Question

Which, if any, of the following nitrogen oxides have the same empirical formula?

a) N2O
b) NO2
c) N2O5
d) N2O4

Answer 1

NO2, N2O5, and N2O4 all have the same empirical formula, NO2, when reduced to their simplest whole-number ratios.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student has asked which nitrogen oxides among N2O, NO2, N2O5, and N2O4 have the same empirical formula. To determine this, we need to find the simplest whole-number ratio of the elements in each compound.

• N2O has an empirical formula of NO, which is the simplest ratio of nitrogen to oxygen.
• NO2 already has the simplest whole-number ratio, so its empirical formula stays as NO2.
• N2O5 can be simplified to the ratio NO2.5, but since we can't have half atoms, we're looking for integer ratios. Therefore, its empirical formula is NO2.
• N2O4 can be reduced to NO2 as it has a 1:2 ratio of nitrogen to oxygen.

Both NO2 and N2O5, and N2O4 have the same empirical formula, which is NO2.