Final answer:
The mass percent of carbon in a compound C₁₄H₁₉NO₂ is calculated by finding carbon's total mass from the number of carbon atoms and the atomic mass of carbon, then dividing by the compound's total molar mass and multiplying by 100.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the mass percent of carbon in a chemical compound such as C₁₄H₁₉NO₂, we must first determine the molar mass of the compound and then find the contribution of carbon's mass to the total mass. The molecular formula C₁₄H₁₉NO₂ implies there are 14 carbon atoms in the compound. Each carbon atom has an atomic mass of approximately 12.01 amu (atomic mass units). Multiplying the number of carbon atoms (14) by the atomic mass of carbon gives us the total mass of carbon in one mole of the compound.
Next, we calculate the molar mass of the compound by adding together the atomic masses of all the atoms in the formula: 14 atoms of carbon (C), 19 atoms of hydrogen (H), 1 atom of nitrogen (N), and 2 atoms of oxygen (O). After calculating the total molar mass, we divide the mass of carbon by the total molar mass and multiply by 100 to get the mass percent of carbon within the compound.
The given mass percentages for carbon, 36.03% and 13.72%, seem to be typos or irrelevant to the calculation we are performing. By following the steps outlined above, you can correctly calculate the mass percent of carbon for C₁₄H₁₉NO₂.