Question

A compound is found to contain 21.95% sulfur and 78.03% fluorine by mass.

To answer the question, enter the elements in the order presented above.

The empirical formula for this compound is ....

Answer 1

The empirical formula for a compound containing 21.95% sulfur and 78.03% fluorine is SF6, determined by calculating the mole ratio of the elements and then converting it to the simplest whole-number ratio.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the empirical formula of a compound containing 21.95% sulfur and 78.03% fluorine, you would first divide the percentages by the atomic masses of sulfur (S, approximately 32.07 g/mol) and fluorine (F, approximately 19.00 g/mol). This will give you the mole ratio of the elements in the compound.

For sulfur: 21.95% ÷ 32.07 g/mol = 0.684 moles of S

For fluorine: 78.03% ÷ 19.00 g/mol = 4.106 moles of F

Next, you determine the simplest whole-number ratio by dividing by the smallest number of moles, in this case, the moles of sulfur:

For sulfur: 0.684 ÷ 0.684 = 1

For fluorine: 4.106 ÷ 0.684 = 6

So the simplest whole-number ratio is 1:6, and the empirical formula for the compound is SF6.