One gram of a substance containing hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon on combustion produces 1.4656 g of CO₂ and 0.6000g of H₂O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

1. Find the number of moles of each product using their molar masses: CO₂: 60.07 g/mol H₂O: 80.06 g/mol moles of CO₂ = 1.4656 g / 60.07 g/mol = 0.0244 mol moles of H₂O = 0.6000 g / 80.06 g/mol = 0.0075 mol 2. Divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles to get the simplest whole-number ratio: 0.0244 mol CO₂/ 0.0075 mol H₂O = 3.25 0.0075 mol H₂O/ 0.0075 mol H₂O = 1 0.0244 mol CO₂/ 0.0075 mol H₂O = 3.25 The ratio is approximately 3.25:1, which simplifies to 13:4 by multiplying both numbers by 4. 3. Write the empirical formula: The compound contains 13 atoms of carbon, 4 atoms of hydrogen, and 1 atom of sulfur and 1 atom of oxygen. The empirical formula is therefore CH13₂O. This corresponds to answer choice D.

One Gram of a Substance Containing Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Carbon