the combustion of 1.83 grams of a compound which only contains C,H, and O yields 4.88 grams of CO2, and 1.83 grams of H2O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?

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4.88 g CO2 x 1 mol CO2/44.01 g CO2 x 2 mol O2= .2217 mol O2

1.38 g of H20 x 1mol H20/ 18.02 g H20 x 2 mol H2/ 1 mol H20= .15316 mol H2

How do I get find mols of C? What is the 1.83 grams used for? thanks!

Convert 4.88 g CO2 to grams C.

Convert 1.83 g H2O to grams hydrogen (H, not H2).Your answer looks ok for this part.
Then 1.83 - g C - g H = g O (not O2)

Then g C/12 = mols C
g H/1 = mols H
g O/16 = mols O

Then find the ratio.

Thanks!

To find the moles of carbon (C) in the compound, you will need to subtract the moles of oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) from the total moles of the compound.

First, find the moles of oxygen (O):
- The mass of CO2 produced is 4.88 grams.
- Convert the mass of CO2 to moles using the molar mass of CO2 (44.01 g/mol).
- Divide the mass of CO2 by its molar mass to get the moles of O: 4.88 g CO2 / 44.01 g/mol = 0.1109 mol O.

Next, find the moles of hydrogen (H):
- The mass of H2O produced is 1.83 grams.
- Convert the mass of H2O to moles using the molar mass of H2O (18.02 g/mol).
- Divide the mass of H2O by its molar mass to get the moles of H: 1.83 g H2O / 18.02 g/mol = 0.1016 mol H.

Now, let's find the moles of carbon (C):
- Since the compound only contains carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O), the remaining moles belong to carbon.
- Subtract the moles of oxygen and hydrogen from the total moles of the compound:
Total moles of the compound = moles of C + moles of H + moles of O
0.2217 mol O + 0.15316 mol H + moles of C = total moles of the compound (which is unknown).

To find the moles of carbon (C), rearrange the equation and substitute the values:
moles of C = total moles of the compound – (moles of H + moles of O)
moles of C = total moles of the compound – (0.1016 mol H + 0.1109 mol O)
moles of C = total moles of the compound – 0.2125

However, we still need to find the total moles of the compound.

The mass of the compound is given as 1.83 grams. We can make an assumption that the mass is equal to the molar mass (in grams) of the compound. This assumption is reasonable since if we divide the mass of the compound by its molar mass, the result must be equal to 1 mole for the empirical formula:

1.83 g compound / molar mass of the compound = 1 mole

Now, we can rearrange the equation to solve for the molar mass of the compound:
molar mass of the compound = 1.83 g compound / 1 mole

Substitute this value back into the equation to find the moles of carbon:
moles of C = (molar mass of the compound) – 0.2125
moles of C = (1.83 g compound / 1 mole) – 0.2125

Once you have the moles of carbon, you can determine the empirical formula of the compound by finding the simplest ratio of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in the compound.