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What is the empirical formula of a compound containing 90 grams carbon, 11 grams hydrogen, and 35 grams nitrogen?

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In order to find the empirical formula of this compound, we need to find the number of moles of each element present in this molecule, we can do that by using the given information if the question, and the molar mass of each element:

90 grams of Carbon, molar mass = 12 grams/mol

11 grams of Hydrogen, molar mass = 1 gram/mol

35 grams of Nitrogen, molar mass = 14 grams/mol

Now let's start with Carbon:

12g = 1 mol

90g = x moles

x = 7.5 moles of Carbon in 90 grams

Hydrogen:

1g = 1 mol

11g = x moles

x = 11 moles of Hydrogen in 11 grams

Nitrogen:

14g = 1 mol

35g = x moles

x = 2.5 moles of Nitrogen in 35 grams

Now we have 7.5 moles of C, 11 moles of H and 2.5 moles of N, according to the rules on building the molecular formula of a compound, we can not use decimal numbers to build it, therefore we need to multiply all the values for 2

7.5 * 2 = 15 moles of Carbon

11 * 2 = 22 moles of Hydrogen

2.5 * 2 = 5 moles of Nitrogen

Now we have all the number in the integer form

To find the empirical formula, we need to divide all the values by the smallest value of moles:

15/5 = 3 moles

22/5 = 4.4 moles

5/5 = 1 mol

Therefore the final empirical formula is C3H4N

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