A compound contains 31.91% potassium, 28.93% chlorine and the rest oxygen. What is the chemical formula of the compound? [K = 39, Cl = 35.5, O = 16]

Answer Details

To find the chemical formula of the compound, we first need to determine the ratio of the elements in it. From the given percentages, we can assume that we have 100 grams of the compound, and then convert the percentages to grams: - Potassium (K) = 31.91 grams - Chlorine (Cl) = 28.93 grams - Oxygen (O) = 100 - 31.91 - 28.93 = 39.16 grams Next, we need to determine the ratio of the elements in terms of their moles. To do this, we need to divide each element's mass by its molar mass: - K: 31.91 g / 39.1 g/mol = 0.815 mol - Cl: 28.93 g / 35.5 g/mol = 0.816 mol - O: 39.16 g / 16 g/mol = 2.45 mol We can see that the ratio of K to Cl to O is approximately 1:1:3. Therefore, the chemical formula of the compound is KClO3, option (D). Each formula unit of KClO3 contains one potassium atom (K), one chlorine atom (Cl), and three oxygen atoms (O).