Question

46g of a mineral contained 16g copper, 14g iron and 16g sulphur. Calculate the empirical

formula of the mineral.

Answer 1

CuFeS2

Step-by-step explanation:

Calculate the moles of each substance by doing moles= mass/relative atomic mass. you should get 0.25 moles of copper and iron and 0.5 moles of sulfur. Then divide all of those numbers by 0.25 (as its the lowest value) you should get 1 for copper and iron and 2 for sulfur. This represents the ratio that they are in within the mineral.