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Determine the molecular formula of a compound that has a molar mass of 92.0 g/mol and an empirical formula of NO₂?

User Julesj
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Final answer:

To determine the molecular formula of a compound with an empirical formula and molar mass, find the ratio between the empirical formula mass and the molar mass. In this case, the molecular formula is N₂O₄.

Step-by-step explanation:

Determining the Molecular Formula of a Compound

To determine the molecular formula of a compound with an empirical formula and molar mass, you need to find the ratio between the empirical formula mass and the molar mass. Let's take the given compound with an empirical formula of NO₂ and a molar mass of 92.0 g/mol as an example.

The empirical formula mass is calculated by adding up the atomic masses of the elements in the formula. For NO₂, it would be: 14.01 (N) + 16.00 (O) + 16.00 (O) = 46.01 g/mol.

To find the molecular formula, divide the molar mass by the empirical formula mass: 92.0 g/mol / 46.01 g/mol = 2.00.

Since the result is close to a whole number, this means that the molecular formula is twice the empirical formula. Therefore, the molecular formula of the compound is N₂O₄.

User Lokanath Das
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