Question

After the shuttle disaster, an unknown compound residue was removed from a piece of the debris. Upon analysis, it was found to contain 2.61 g of carbon, 6.09 g of nitrogen, and 1.31 g of hydrogen. What is its empirical formula?

Answer 1

The empirical formula of the compound is C1H6N2.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the empirical formula of the compound, we first need to find the mole ratios of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The molar masses of C, H, and N are approximately 12 g/mol, 1 g/mol, and 14 g/mol, respectively. We can calculate the number of moles for each element using the given masses:

• moles of carbon (C) = 2.61 g / 12 g/mol = 0.218 mol
• moles of hydrogen (H) = 1.31 g / 1 g/mol = 1.31 mol
• moles of nitrogen (N) = 6.09 g / 14 g/mol = 0.435 mol

Next, we divide each element's mole amount by the smallest value to get the simplest mole ratio. In this case, the smallest mole amount is 0.218 mol:

• moles of carbon (C) / smallest mole amount = 0.218 mol / 0.218 mol = 1
• moles of hydrogen (H) / smallest mole amount = 1.31 mol / 0.218 mol ≈ 6
• moles of nitrogen (N) / smallest mole amount = 0.435 mol / 0.218 mol ≈ 2

Therefore, the empirical formula of the compound is C1H6N2.

Answer 2

The final empirical formula is
`C_2 N_5 H`

Step-by-step explanation:

Given

The amount of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen in a given compound is as follows

C:N:H

`2.61 : 6.09 : 1.31`

On simplifying the ration values we get

`(2.61)/(1.31) : (6.09)/(1.31) : (1.31)/(1.31)`

So the final ratio is

`2 : 5 : 1`

The final empirical formula is
`C_2 N_5 H`