Posted by Cool Dom on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 5:04pm.
Take a 100 g sample which will give you
43.38 g Carbon
8.12 g hydrogen
and 100-43.38-8.12 = g oxygen.
Now convert each of the grams to moles.
43.38 g/atomic mass C = moles C.
8.12 g/atomic mass H = moles H.
g oxygen/atomic mass O = moles O.
Now find the ratio of these moles to each other. The easiest way to do this is to divide the smallest number by itself (which of course will give you 1.000), then divide the other number of moles of the other elements by that same small number. The result should be values that are very close to whole numbers. Round them to whole numbers and those are the subscripts for the molecule. Note: Do not round too much; e.g. round 1.05 to 1.00 and 2.15 to 2.00 but 1.5 or 1.4 or 1.6 are rounded to 1.5 (because then you multiply everything by 2 to get rid of the 1/2) and the other numbers become whole numbers, usually, too. Post your work if you get stuck.
Related Questions
Chemistry - Find the molecular formula of a compound that is 48.38% carbon, 8.12...
Chemistry - Calculate the empirical formula and molecular formula of a compound ...
Chemistry - What is the empirical formula of a compund composed of 3.25% ...
chemistry - A chemist decomposes several samples of carbon monoxide into carbon ...
Chemistry - 8.40 grams of Hydrogen gas reacts with 48.2 grams of Oxygen gas. ...
AP Chemistry - Textrodotoxin is a toxic chemical found in fugu pufferish, a ...
chemistry - A 230 g sample of a compound contains 136.6 g of carbon, 26.4 g of ...
chemistry - A 230 g sample of a compound contains 136.6 g of carbon, 26.4 g of ...
chemistry - A 12.0g sample of carbohydrate contain 4.50g of carbon, 3.25g of ...
chemistry - a 12.0g sample of carbohydrate contain 4.50g of carbon, 3.25g of ...
For Further Reading
