A compound was found to contain 49.98 g carbon and 10.47 g hydrogen. The molar mass of the compound is 58.12 g/mol. What is the molecular formula?

Determine the empirical formula as described by Bob Pursley in earlier posts. Then calculate the empirical formula mass and see how many units there are in 58.12 g.

plz halp

To determine the molecular formula of the compound, we need to find the empirical formula first. The empirical formula represents the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms in a compound.

1. Start by finding the number of moles of carbon and hydrogen in the compound:
- Moles of carbon = mass of carbon / molar mass of carbon
= 49.98 g / 12.01 g/mol
- Moles of hydrogen = mass of hydrogen / molar mass of hydrogen
= 10.47 g / 1.01 g/mol

2. Divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles obtained. This step is necessary to obtain the simplest whole-number ratio between the elements.
- Moles of carbon / smallest mole value = 49.98 g / 12.01 g/mol ≈ 4.163 mol
- Moles of hydrogen / smallest mole value = 10.47 g / 1.01 g/mol ≈ 10.364 mol

3. Round off the ratios obtained in step 2 to the nearest whole number:
- Carbon ≈ 4
- Hydrogen ≈ 10

4. Write down the empirical formula using the whole-number ratios obtained in step 3:
The empirical formula is C4H10.

Now, to find the molecular formula, we need to know the molar mass of the empirical formula. The molar mass of C4H10 can be calculated as follows:

- Molar mass of C4H10 = (4 x molar mass of carbon) + (10 x molar mass of hydrogen)
= (4 x 12.01 g/mol) + (10 x 1.01 g/mol)
= 48.04 g/mol + 10.10 g/mol
= 58.14 g/mol

Since the given molar mass of the compound is 58.12 g/mol, which is very close to the calculated molar mass of C4H10 (58.14 g/mol), it indicates that the molecular formula of the compound is C4H10.