Final answer:
The empirical formula of the compound with 40% C, 6.7% H, and 53.3% O is CH₂O.
Step-by-step explanation:
The empirical formula of the compound can be determined by finding the simplest whole-number ratio of the elements in the compound. To do this, we need to calculate the number of moles of each element in the compound.
First, assume we have a 100g sample of the compound. Using the given percentages, we can calculate the grams of each element:
- Carbon (C): (40/100) x 100g = 40g
- Hydrogen (H): (6.7/100) x 100g = 6.7g
- Oxygen (O): (53.3/100) x 100g = 53.3g
Next, we need to convert the grams of each element to moles by dividing by their respective molar masses:
- C: 40g / 12.01 g/mol = 3.33 moles
- H: 6.7g / 1.008 g/mol = 6.65 moles
- O: 53.3g / 16.00 g/mol = 3.33 moles
Finally, we divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles to find the simplest whole-number ratio. In this case, the smallest number of moles is 3.33:
- C: 3.33 moles / 3.33 moles = 1
- H: 6.65 moles / 3.33 moles ≈ 2
- O: 3.33 moles / 3.33 moles = 1
Therefore, the simplest empirical formula of the compound is CH₂O.