Final answer:
To determine the empirical formula of a compound with 53.3% oxygen and 46.7% silicon, convert the percentages to moles, then divide by the smallest mole value to get a simple whole-number ratio. The empirical formula for the compound is SiO2.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the empirical formula of a compound, you need to know the percent composition of the elements present in the compound. In this case, the compound is 53.3% oxygen (O) and 46.7% silicon (Si). To find the empirical formula, you need to convert the percentages to moles by assuming 100g of the compound.
Step 1: Convert the percentages to moles:
53.3g O * (1 mol O / 16.00 g O) = 3.33125 moles O
46.7g Si * (1 mol Si / 28.08 g Si) = 1.66189 moles Si
Step 2: Divide each mole value by the smallest mole value to get a simple whole-number ratio:
O:Si = 3.33125 moles O / 1.66189 moles Si ≈ 2 moles O : 1 mole Si
The empirical formula for the compound is SiO2, which represents a 2:1 ratio of oxygen to silicon.