Question

A 12.66 g sample of a compound containing oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon is analyzed and found to contain 7.13 g of carbon and 1.25 g of hydrogen. Calculate the percent composition of the compound.

Answer 1

To calculate the percent composition of the compound, we need to find the mass of the oxygen first and then calculate the mass percent of each element in the compound.

Mass of hydrogen = 1.25 g
Mass of carbon = 7.13 g

Mass of oxygen = 12.66 g - (1.25 g + 7.13 g) = 4.28 g

Next, we can calculate the mass percent of each element:

Mass percent of hydrogen = (1.25 g / 12.66 g) * 100% = 9.87%
Mass percent of carbon = (7.13 g / 12.66 g) * 100% = 56.41%
Mass percent of oxygen = (4.28 g / 12.66 g) * 100% = 33.72%

So the percent composition of the compound is 9.87% hydrogen, 56.41% carbon, and 33.72% oxygen