Question

A compound containing nitrogen and oxygen is decomposed in the laboratory and produces 59.0 g nitrogen and 140.0 g oxygen. Find the empirical formula of the compound. Show work, use units, and correct significant figures.

Answer 1

To find the empirical formula of the compound, convert the given masses of nitrogen and oxygen to moles, and then find the smallest whole number ratio between them. In this case, the empirical formula is NO2.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the empirical formula of the compound, we need to determine the ratio of the number of atoms of each element in the compound. We can do this by converting the given masses of nitrogen and oxygen to moles, and then finding the smallest whole number ratio between them.

Given: 0.130 g of nitrogen, 0.370 g of oxygen

Step 1: Convert the masses to moles using the molar mass of each element. The molar mass of nitrogen is 14.01 g/mol, and the molar mass of oxygen is 16.00 g/mol.

Moles of nitrogen = 0.130 g / 14.01 g/mol = 0.00928 mol

Moles of oxygen = 0.370 g / 16.00 g/mol = 0.0231 mol

Step 2: Find the ratio by dividing the moles of each element by the smallest number of moles.

Ratio of nitrogen = 0.00928 mol / 0.00928 mol = 1

Ratio of oxygen = 0.0231 mol / 0.00928 mol = 2.49 ≈ 2

The empirical formula of the compound is therefore N1O2, which can be simplified to NO2.