calculate the empirical formula. A chemist heats 50.00g of sulfur under controlled conditions to produce a sulfer-oxygen compund.The mass of the sulfur-oxygen compound is 100.00g. What is the empirical formula of the sulfur-oxygen?

S + O2 ==> SxOy

S start = 50.00 grams.
SxOy = 100.00 grams.
Therefore, we must have added 50.00 g oxygen.

mols S = 50/32.066 = 1.56
moles O = 50/16 = 3.125
Now find the ratio of the two to each other. The easy way is to divide the smaller number by itself.
1.56/1.56 = 1.000 (you do this to get 1.00 and it works every time. :-),

Then divide the other number by the same small number.
3.125/1.56 = 2.004.
Now round those to whole numbers and you have the formula of S1O2 or SO2.

To find the empirical formula of the sulfur-oxygen compound, we need to determine the ratio of sulfur to oxygen in the compound.

Step 1: Calculate the mass of sulfur in the compound.
Given: Mass of sulfur = 50.00 g

Step 2: Calculate the mass of oxygen in the compound.
Given: Total mass of the compound = 100.00 g
Mass of sulfur = 50.00 g

Mass of oxygen = Total mass of the compound - Mass of sulfur
Mass of oxygen = 100.00 g - 50.00 g
Mass of oxygen = 50.00 g

Step 3: Calculate the moles of sulfur and oxygen.
To do this, we divide the mass of each element by its molar mass.

The molar mass of sulfur (S) is approximately 32.06 g/mol.
The molar mass of oxygen (O) is approximately 16.00 g/mol.

Moles of sulfur = Mass of sulfur / Molar mass of sulfur
Moles of sulfur = 50.00 g / 32.06 g/mol
Moles of sulfur ≈ 1.56 mol

Moles of oxygen = Mass of oxygen / Molar mass of oxygen
Moles of oxygen = 50.00 g / 16.00 g/mol
Moles of oxygen ≈ 3.13 mol

Step 4: Find the simplest ratio between moles of sulfur and oxygen.
Divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles. In this case, sulfur has the smallest number of moles (1.56 mol).

Ratio of sulfur to oxygen = Moles of sulfur / Moles of sulfur
Ratio of sulfur to oxygen ≈ 1.56 mol / 1.56 mol ≈ 1:2

Based on the ratio above, the empirical formula of the sulfur-oxygen compound is SO2.

To calculate the empirical formula of a compound, we need to know the masses or percentage composition of its elements. In this case, we have the mass of sulfur and the mass of the sulfur-oxygen compound.

1. Calculate the mass of oxygen present in the sulfur-oxygen compound:
Mass of oxygen = Mass of sulfur-oxygen compound - Mass of sulfur
= 100.00 g - 50.00 g = 50.00 g

2. Determine the number of moles for each element:
Moles of sulfur = Mass of sulfur / Molar mass of sulfur
= 50.00 g / 32.06 g/mol (molar mass of sulfur)
≈ 1.56 mol

Moles of oxygen = Mass of oxygen / Molar mass of oxygen
= 50.00 g / 16.00 g/mol (molar mass of oxygen)
≈ 3.13 mol

3. Find the smallest whole-number ratio of the elements:
Divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles from step 2.
In this case, the smallest number of moles is approximately 1.56 mol.

Moles of sulfur in ratio = 1.56 mol / 1.56 mol ≈ 1
Moles of oxygen in ratio = 3.13 mol / 1.56 mol ≈ 2

4. Write the empirical formula using the whole-number ratio obtained:
The empirical formula for the sulfur-oxygen compound is SO2.

Therefore, the empirical formula for the sulfur-oxygen compound is SO2.