Final answer:
The empirical formula of the hydrocarbon from the given combustion data is approximately CH₂, calculated by determining moles of carbon and hydrogen from the mass of CO₂ and H₂O, and finding their simplest ratio.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the empirical formula of a hydrocarbon from its combustion products, we need to find the moles of carbon and hydrogen present in the original compound. Because complete combustion of a hydrocarbon produces CO₂ and H₂O, we can use the masses of these products to find the moles of C and H, and from there calculate the empirical formula.
First, we calculate the moles of carbon in 25.3 g of CO₂ using its molar mass (44.01 g/mol):
25.3 g CO₂ × (1 mol CO₂ / 44.01 g CO₂) = 0.575 moles of C
For hydrogen, we first determine the moles in 11.6 g of H₂O (18.02 g/mol):
11.6 g H₂O × (1 mol H₂O / 18.02 g H₂O) × (2 mol H / 1 mol H₂O) = 1.29 moles of H
Now we divide by the smaller number of moles to get the ratio:
C: 0.575 moles / 0.575 moles = 1
H: 1.29 moles / 0.575 moles = 2.24 ≈ 2
The empirical formula of the hydrocarbon is approximately CH₂.