Final answer:
The empirical formula for the compound containing 40.0% C, 6.71% H, and 53.28% O is CH2O.
Step-by-step explanation:
The empirical formula for a compound is the simplest ratio of the atoms present in the compound. To determine the empirical formula, we need to convert the percentages of each element into moles. The first step is to assume we have 100 g of the compound, which allows us to easily convert the percentages into grams.
Given that the compound contains 40.0% carbon, 6.71% hydrogen, and 53.28% oxygen, we can calculate the number of moles of each element using their molar masses. The molar mass of carbon (C) is 12.01 g/mol, hydrogen (H) is 1.01 g/mol, and oxygen (O) is 16.00 g/mol.
Converting the percentages to grams, we have:
C: (40.0/100) * 100 g = 40.0 g
H: (6.71/100) * 100 g = 6.71 g
O: (53.28/100) * 100 g = 53.28 g
Next, we calculate the number of moles of each element:
C: 40.0 g / 12.01 g/mol = 3.33 mol
H: 6.71 g / 1.01 g/mol = 6.64 mol
O: 53.28 g /16.00 g/mol = 3.33 mol
Finally, we divide each mole value by the smallest mole value to find the simplest ratio:
C: 3.33 mol / 3.33 mol = 1
H: 6.64 mol / 3.33 mol = 2
O: 3.33 mol / 3.33 mol = 1
Therefore, the empirical formula of the compound is C1H2O1, which can be simplified to CH2O.