Final answer:
Dicarbon trioxide is not a commonly recognized or stable compound in regular chemistry settings, but the compound 'dicarbon trioxide' would imply a molecular formula of C2O3, assuming that such a compound could exist. Typically, carbon forms stable oxides like carbon dioxide (CO2). Empirical formulas are derived from percent compositions by converting to moles and determining the simplest whole number ratio.
Step-by-step explanation:
The formula for dicarbon trioxide, which is a compound with two atoms of carbon and three atoms of oxygen, is not a standard compound and is highly unstable, rarely mentioned in typical chemistry texts. When dealing with relative atomic ratios in chemical formulas, such as in dicarbon trioxide, the prefix 'di-' indicates two atoms of carbon, and 'tri-' indicates three atoms of oxygen. However, the usual stable oxide of carbon is carbon dioxide (CO₂), which has one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Formulas for various oxides are based on the valency and combining capacity of elements.
The given equation C(s) + O₂(g) → CO₂(g) describes the combustion of carbon to form carbon dioxide. An alternative combustion reaction involving carbon monoxide (CO) as an intermediate step would show the carbon monoxide further reacting with oxygen to also produce carbon dioxide (2CO + O₂ → 2CO₂).
To determine an empirical formula from a percent composition, one would convert the percentages to a mole ratio and simplify to the simplest whole number ratio. For example, if you have a compound containing 40.0% C, 6.71% H, and 53.28% O, you would calculate the moles of each element and divide by the smallest number to achieve this ratio.