Question

A compound A is 63.68% carbon, 12.38% nitrogen, 9.80% hydrogen, and 14.14% oxygen. Calculate the empirical formula for compound A.

Answer 1

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:

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. Determine the mole ratios by dividing each element's mole amount by the smallest mole value obtained.
4. 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.