Final answer:
The empirical formula of the compound is P2O5.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the empirical formula of a compound, we need to find the simplest ratio of the elements present. Given that the white powder is 43.64% phosphorus and 56.36% oxygen by mass, we assume we have 100g of the compound, which means we have 43.64g of phosphorus and 56.36g of oxygen. To find the empirical formula, we need to convert these masses to moles. The molar mass of phosphorus (P) is 30.97 g/mol, and the molar mass of oxygen (O) is 16.00 g/mol. Using these values, we can calculate the number of moles of each element:
Moles of P = 43.64g P / 30.97 g/mol P = 1.41 mol P
Moles of O = 56.36g O / 16.00 g/mol O = 3.52 mol O
Next, we divide each number of moles by the smallest number of moles to obtain the simplest ratio:
1.41 mol P / 1.41 mol P = 1
3.52 mol O / 1.41 mol P = 2.5
Rounding the ratio to the nearest whole number, we get:
Empirical formula: P1O2.5 (or simplified as P2O5)