Question

A sample of an unknown compound contains 0.21 mol of zinc, 0.14 mol of phosphorus, and 0.56 mol of oxygen. what is the empirical formula? enter in the order given,

e.g. zn1p1o1 for znpo

Answer 1

To determine the empirical formula of a compound, you need to find the ratio of the number of moles of each element in the compound. In this case, the empirical formula is NO.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the empirical formula of a compound using the given information, we need to find the ratio of the number of moles of each element in the compound. In this case, we have 0.130 g of nitrogen and 0.370 g of oxygen. First, we need to convert the masses of each element to moles by dividing by their respective molar masses. The molar mass of nitrogen is 14.01 g/mol and the molar mass of oxygen is 16.00 g/mol.:

Moles of nitrogen = 0.130 g / 14.01 g/mol = 0.00928 mol

Moles of oxygen = 0.370 g / 16.00 g/mol = 0.02312 mol

Next, we divide the moles of each element by the smallest number of moles to get the simplest whole number ratio. In this case, the smallest number of moles is 0.00928 mol.:

Ratio of nitrogen to oxygen = 0.00928 mol / 0.00928 mol = 1

Therefore, the empirical formula of the compound is N1O1, which can be simplified to NO.

Answer 2

Zn3P2O8
We have the ratio 0.21 : 0.14 : 0.56 and we want to come up with a ratio of simple integers, so first divide all the numbers by the smallest which is 0.14, getting 1.5 : 1 : 4, The 1 and 4 look OK, but obviously the 1.5 isn't anywhere close to an integer. But that can be corrected easily by multiplying all the numbers again by 2, giving 3 : 2 : 8. So the empirical formula is Zn3P2O8.