Final answer:
The empirical formula of compound A is calculated by converting the given percentages to masses assuming 100 g of the compound, then to moles, determining the mole ratios, and deducing the smallest whole number ratio to formulate the empirical formula.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the empirical formula for compound A, which consists of 63.68% carbon, 12.38% nitrogen, 9.80% hydrogen, and 14.14% oxygen, we take the following steps:
- Convert the percentages to masses by assuming 100 grams of the compound. This makes our calculation easy: C: 63.68 g, N: 12.38 g, H: 9.80 g, O: 14.14 g.
- Convert the masses to moles by using the molar masses of the elements (C: 12.01 g/mol, N: 14.01 g/mol, H: 1.01 g/mol, O: 16.00 g/mol).
- Determine the mole ratios by dividing each element's mole amount by the smallest mole value obtained.
- The smallest whole number ratios often give the empirical formula.
If needed, you may have to multiply the ratios by a common factor to get whole numbers for each element's subscript in the empirical formula.