Final answer:
The empirical formula of the compound with chlorine and oxygen is ClO1.47.
Step-by-step explanation:
The empirical formula of a compound can be determined by analyzing the relative amounts of each element in the compound. In this case, the compound is composed of chlorine and oxygen. To find the empirical formula, we start by assuming we have 100g of the compound. From the given composition, we have 52.2g of carbon, 13.0g of hydrogen, and 34.8g of oxygen.
Next, we calculate the number of moles of each element by dividing the mass of each element by its molar mass. For chlorine, the molar mass is 35.45 g/mol, and for oxygen, it is 16.00 g/mol. So, we have:
Mass of chlorine = 52.2g x (1 mol / 35.45 g) = 1.47 mol of chlorine
Mass of oxygen = 34.8g x (1 mol / 16.00 g) = 2.18 mol of oxygen
Finally, we divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles, and round to the nearest whole number. In this case, the chlorine has the smallest number of moles, so the empirical formula of the compound is ClO1.47