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Calculating a compound's empirical formula -H2SO4

A compound was discovered to contain 32.65 % sulphur, 65.31 % oxygen, and 2.04 % hydrogen. What is the compound’s simplest or the empirical formula? 

Solution

1) Step 1 - Converting mass percentage into grams

32.65 % = 32.65 g of S

65.31 % =65.31 g of O

2.04 % =2.04 g of H

2) Calculating the number of moles

 

3) Obtaining the simplest molar ratio

It is obtained by dividing the moles obtained in the previous step by the smallest value from amongst the values obtained for each element. Here it is 1.020.

 

The simplest molar ratio is a whole number, then the next step is to obtain the empirical formula. 

4) Write the Empirical Formula 

The empirical formula is expressed by writing the element’s symbol. This is followed by the simplest whole number ratio of the element obtained from the previous step in the subscript.

Therefore, the empirical formula of the given sample is H2SO4.

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