A sample of a compound contains 3.21 g of sulfur and 11.4 g of fluorine. Which of the following represents the empirical formula of the compound?
A) SF
B) SF₂
C) SF₃
D) SF₄
To determine the empirical formula of the compound, we need to find the ratio of atoms of each element present in the sample.
Step 1: Convert the masses of sulfur and fluorine to moles.
Molar mass of sulfur (S) = 32.06 g/mol
Molar mass of fluorine (F) = 18.998 g/mol
Number of moles of sulfur = 3.21 g / 32.06 g/mol = 0.1 mol
Number of moles of fluorine = 11.4 g / 18.998 g/mol = 0.6 mol
Step 2: Divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles to get the simplest whole-number ratio.
Sulfur:Fluorine = 0.1 mol : 0.6 mol
Dividing both sides by 0.1 gives: Sulfur:Fluorine = 1 : 6
Step 3: Write the empirical formula using the ratio of atoms found.
The empirical formula is SF₆.
However, none of the given answer choices includes SF₆, so it seems there was an error in the answer choices provided.