The combustion of 1.00g of vitamin C, compound that contains only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen produced 1.500g of co2 and 0.401g of H2O. Find the molecular formula of vitamin C knowing that its molecular mass is 176

g C = 1.500 g CO2 x (atomic mass C/molar mass CO2) = ?

g H = 0.401 g H2O x (2*atomic mass H/molar mass H2O) = ?
g O = 1.00-g C - g H = ?

Convert grams to mols.
mols C = g C/12 = ?
mols H = g H/1 = ?
mols O = g O/16 = ?

Find the ratio of the elements to each other with the smallest being 1.00. The easy way to do that is to divide the smallest number by itself which will give you 1.000 for that element. Then divide the other numbers by the same small number. The values you obtain can not be rounded to whole numbers so do this. Multiply each by 2,then 3, then 4, etc until you come up with values that can be rounded to whole numbers. I think you will find 3 ok. That will give you the empirical formula.
Now to find the molecular formula
Calculate the empirical formula mass. Then (176/empirical formula mass) = some number which I will call n. Round to a whole number. The molecular formula will be
(empirical formula)n.
Post your work if you get stuck.

To find the molecular formula of vitamin C, we need to determine the number of moles of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the compound.

Step 1: Convert the mass of CO2 and H2O to moles.
- The molar mass of CO2 (carbon dioxide) is 44.01 g/mol, so the number of moles of CO2 produced is:
1.500 g CO2 / 44.01 g/mol = 0.0341 mol CO2
- The molar mass of H2O (water) is 18.02 g/mol, so the number of moles of H2O produced is:
0.401 g H2O / 18.02 g/mol = 0.0223 mol H2O

Step 2: Determine the number of moles of carbon and hydrogen.
- In CO2, there is 1 carbon atom for every 1 molecule of CO2. Since each molecule of CO2 contains 2 oxygen atoms, the number of moles of carbon is the same as the number of moles of CO2:
0.0341 mol CO2 = 0.0341 mol C
- In H2O, there are 2 hydrogen atoms for every 1 molecule of H2O. Thus, the number of moles of hydrogen is:
0.0223 mol H2O × 2 mol H / 1 mol H2O = 0.0446 mol H

Step 3: Find the number of moles of oxygen.
- Subtract the moles of carbon and hydrogen from the total moles of the compound:
Total moles of compound = 0.0341 mol C + 0.0446 mol H
Moles of oxygen = Total moles of compound - (0.0341 mol C + 0.0446 mol H)

Step 4: Calculate the ratio of moles.
- Divide the moles of each element by the smallest number of moles to obtain a whole number ratio.
Carbon ratio = Moles of carbon / Moles of smallest component
Hydrogen ratio = Moles of hydrogen / Moles of smallest component
Oxygen ratio = Moles of oxygen / Moles of smallest component

Step 5: Find the molecular formula.
- Divide the molecular mass of vitamin C (176 g/mol) by the empirical formula mass to get the whole number ratio of the empirical formula.
Empirical formula mass = (carbon ratio × atomic mass of carbon) + (hydrogen ratio × atomic mass of hydrogen) + (oxygen ratio × atomic mass of oxygen)
Molecular formula ratio = Molecular mass / Empirical formula mass

Now, let's plug in the values and calculate the molecular formula of vitamin C.

Note: The atomic masses are:
- Carbon (C) = 12.01 g/mol
- Hydrogen (H) = 1.008 g/mol
- Oxygen (O) = 16.00 g/mol

Carbon ratio = 0.0341 mol C / 0.0223 mol H = 1.53
Hydrogen ratio = 0.0446 mol H / 0.0223 mol H = 2.00
Oxygen ratio = Moles of oxygen / Moles of smallest component = (Total moles of compound - (0.0341 mol C + 0.0446 mol H)) / 0.0223 mol H

Empirical formula mass = (1.53 × 12.01 g/mol) + (2.00 × 1.008 g/mol) + (oxygen ratio × 16.00 g/mol)

Molecular formula ratio = 176 g/mol / Empirical formula mass

By determining the empirical formula mass and the molecular formula ratio, the molecular formula of vitamin C can be calculated.