Final answer:
The empirical formula of the hydrate is CuSO4•0.0505H2O.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the empirical formula of the hydrate, we need to determine the number of water molecules in the compound.
We can do this by subtracting the mass of the anhydrous salt from the initial mass of the hydrate. In this case, the initial mass is 2.50 g and the mass of the anhydrous salt is 1.59 g.
Therefore, the mass of water lost during heating is 2.50 g - 1.59 g = 0.91 g.
Next, we need to convert the mass of water lost to moles.
The molar mass of water is 18.015 g/mol, so we divide 0.91 g by 18.015 g/mol to get 0.0505 mol of water.
Finally, we need to determine the empirical formula using the moles of water and the moles of the anhydrous salt.
The molar ratio between the anhydrous salt and water can be found by dividing the moles of water by the moles of the anhydrous salt.
Since the moles of anhydrous salt is equal to 1 (from the given information), the empirical formula is CuSO4•0.0505H2O.