The empirical formula of ascorbic acid is C₃H₄O₃. The empirical formula is the simplest ratio of elements in a compound. The molecular formula is the actual or real ratio of elements in the compound.
The first step to solve our problem is to determine the molar mass of the empirical formula or empirical mass.
empirical formula = C₃H₄O₃
atomic mass of C = 12.01 amu
atomic mass of H = 1.01 amu
atomic mass of O = 16.00 amu
empirical mass = 12.01 * 3 + 1.01 * 4 + 16.00 * 3
empirical mass = 88.07 g/mol
Once we know the molar mass of the empirical formula we can determine the molecular formula. We will divide the molar mass by the empirical mass.
molar mass = 176.14 g/mol
molar mass/empirical formula = 176.14 g/mol/(88.07 g/mol) = 2
molar mass/empirical formula = 2
So we found that the molecular formula is twice the empirical formula.
molecular formula = 2 * empirical formula = 2 * C₃H₄O₃
molecular formula = C₆H₈O₆
Answer: the molecular formula is C₆H₈O₆ (C6H8O6)