A hydrocarbon compound contains 92.3% carbon Determine its empirical formula [H = 1.00; C = 12.0]
Answer Details
To determine the empirical formula of a hydrocarbon compound, we need to know the percentage composition of each element in the compound. In this case, we are given that the compound contains 92.3% carbon, which means that the remaining percentage (100 - 92.3 = 7.7%) must be hydrogen.
To calculate the empirical formula, we need to convert the percentages to mole ratios. Assuming a 100 g sample of the compound, we have 92.3 g of carbon and 7.7 g of hydrogen.
The next step is to convert the masses of each element to moles. We use the molar masses of carbon and hydrogen (12.0 g/mol and 1.00 g/mol, respectively) to calculate the number of moles of each element:
- Moles of carbon = 92.3 g / 12.0 g/mol = 7.69 mol
- Moles of hydrogen = 7.7 g / 1.00 g/mol = 7.7 mol
To get the simplest whole-number ratio of carbon to hydrogen, we divide each number of moles by the smallest number of moles (7.69 mol in this case):
- Carbon: 7.69 mol / 7.69 mol = 1.00
- Hydrogen: 7.7 mol / 7.69 mol = 1.00
Therefore, the empirical formula of the hydrocarbon compound is CH, which corresponds to.