Complete combustion of 8.30 g of a hydrocarbon produced 26.7 g of CO2 and 9.10 g of H2O. What is the empirical formula for the hydrocarbon?

My Work:

First I tried to find the Amount of C and H in the product... Which I got 1 Mole of Carbon and 2 moles of Hydrogen... Now I'm just stuck on finding CH (hydrocarbon) when I know I have 8.20g of CH.

mols C = 26.7/44 = ?(not 1 mol)

mols H = 9.10 x (2/18) = ? (not 2 mols)
The 8.20 is extraneous information unless there is another part of the problem.

To find the empirical formula for the hydrocarbon, you need to determine the ratio of the elements present in the compound. Here's how you can calculate it:

1) Start by converting the given masses of CO2 and H2O into moles. To do this, divide the mass of each compound by their respective molar masses.

The molar mass of CO2 is 44 g/mol (12 g/mol for carbon and 16 g/mol for oxygen), and the molar mass of H2O is 18 g/mol (2 g/mol for hydrogen and 16 g/mol for oxygen).

For CO2:
Moles of CO2 = Mass of CO2 / Molar mass of CO2
Moles of CO2 = 26.7 g / 44 g/mol
Moles of CO2 ≈ 0.606 mol

For H2O:
Moles of H2O = Mass of H2O / Molar mass of H2O
Moles of H2O = 9.10 g / 18 g/mol
Moles of H2O ≈ 0.505 mol

2) Now, determine the moles of carbon and hydrogen in the hydrocarbon. Since the only carbon in the hydrocarbon is present in the CO2, and the only hydrogen is present in the H2O, we can equate the moles of carbon in CO2 to moles of carbon in the hydrocarbon, and the moles of hydrogen in H2O to moles of hydrogen in the hydrocarbon.

Moles of carbon in the hydrocarbon ≈ Moles of carbon in CO2 ≈ 0.606 mol
Moles of hydrogen in the hydrocarbon ≈ Moles of hydrogen in H2O ≈ 0.505 mol

3) Finally, divide the moles of carbon and hydrogen by the smallest value. This step will give you the simplest ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms in the hydrocarbon.

Moles of carbon in the hydrocarbon / Smallest value ≈ 0.606 mol / 0.505 mol ≈ 1.2
Moles of hydrogen in the hydrocarbon / Smallest value ≈ 0.505 mol / 0.505 mol ≈ 1.0

Since the ratio is close to 1.2:1.0, we can multiply the values by 5 (to get whole numbers) to get the empirical formula.

Empirical formula of the hydrocarbon ≈ C6H5

Therefore, the empirical formula for the hydrocarbon is C6H5.

To find the empirical formula of the hydrocarbon, you need to determine the ratios of carbon and hydrogen atoms in the compound.

First, convert the masses of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) to moles.

Molar mass of CO2:
C = 12.01 g/mol
O = 16.00 g/mol (x2)
Total molar mass = 12.01 g/mol + (16.00 g/mol x 2) = 44.01 g/mol

Moles of CO2 = mass of CO2 / molar mass of CO2
Moles of CO2 = 26.7 g / 44.01 g/mol = 0.606 mol

Molar mass of H2O:
H = 1.01 g/mol (x2)
O = 16.00 g/mol
Total molar mass = (1.01 g/mol x 2) + 16.00 g/mol = 18.02 g/mol

Moles of H2O = mass of H2O / molar mass of H2O
Moles of H2O = 9.1 g / 18.02 g/mol = 0.505 mol

Next, find the mole ratio of carbon to hydrogen by dividing the number of moles of each element by their respective smallest value.

Carbon ratio = Moles of CO2 / Smallest mole value
Carbon ratio = 0.606 mol / 0.505 mol = 1.202

Hydrogen ratio = Moles of H2O / Smallest mole value
Hydrogen ratio = 0.505 mol / 0.505 mol = 1

Since we need to express the empirical formula using whole numbers, round the ratios to the nearest whole number.

Carbon ratio = round(1.202) = 1
Hydrogen ratio = round(1) = 1

The empirical formula for the hydrocarbon is CH.