Final answer:
The empirical formula for the compound with 48% cadmium, 20.8% carbon, 2.62% hydrogen, and 27.8% oxygen is CdC4H6O4.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the empirical formula of a compound, we need to find the ratio of the different elements in the compound. In this case, we have:
48% cadmium, 20.8% carbon, 2.62% hydrogen, 27.8% oxygen.
We can assume that we have 100g of the compound, meaning we have:
- 48g of cadmium
- 20.8g of carbon
- 2.62g of hydrogen
- 27.8g of oxygen
To find the empirical formula, we need to convert these masses into moles. The moles can be calculated using the molar mass of each element. The molar mass of cadmium is 112.41 g/mol, carbon is 12.01 g/mol, hydrogen is 1.01 g/mol, and oxygen is 16.00 g/mol.
Now, we divide the moles of each element by the smallest number of moles obtained:
- Cadmium: 48g / 112.41 g/mol = 0.427
- Carbon: 20.8g / 12.01 g/mol = 1.733
- Hydrogen: 2.62g / 1.01 g/mol = 2.594
- Oxygen: 27.8g / 16.00 g/mol = 1.7375
The smallest number of moles obtained is 0.427, so, to make the numbers whole, we divide each number by 0.427:
- Cadmium: 0.427 / 0.427 = 1
- Carbon: 1.733 / 0.427 = ~4
- Hydrogen: 2.594 / 0.427 = ~6
- Oxygen: 1.7375 / 0.427 = ~4
Therefore, the empirical formula for the compound is CdCO4H6O4, or simplified as CdC4H6O4.