Upon combustion, a 0.8009 g sample of a compound containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen produces 1.6004 g CO2 and 0.6551 g H2O. Find the empirical formula of the compound.

C2H4O

Explanation:

We can get the answer through calculations as follows.

From the mass of carbon iv oxide produced, we can get the number of moles of carbon produced. We first divide the mass by the molar mass of carbon iv oxide. The molar mass of carbon iv oxide is 44g/mol

The number of moles of carbon iv oxide is 1.6004/44 = 0.0364

Since there is only one carbon atom in CO2, the number of moles of carbon is same as above

The mass of carbon in the compound is simply the number of moles multiplied by the atomic mass unit. The atomic mass unit of carbon is 12. The mass of carbon in the compound is thus 12 * 0.0364 = 0.4368g

From the number of moles of water, we can get the number of moles of hydrogen. To get the number of moles of water, we need to divide the mass of water by its molar mass. Its molar mass is 18g/mol. The number of moles here is thus 0.6551/18 = 0.0364 mole

But there are 2 atoms of hydrogen in 1 mole of water and thus, the number of moles of hydrogen is 2 * 0.0364 = 0.0728

The mass of hydrogen is thus 0.0728 * 1 = 0.0728g

The mass of oxygen equals the mass of the compound minus that of hydrogen and that of carbon.

= 0.8009 - 0.0728 - 0.4368 = 0.2913 mole

The number of moles of oxygen is the mass of oxygen divided by its atomic mass unit.

That equals 0.2913/16 = 0.0182 mole

The empirical formula can be obtained by dividing the number of moles of each by the smallest which is that of carbon and oxygen 0.0182

H = 0.0728/0.0182 = 4

C = 0.0364/0.0182 = 2

O = 0.0182/0.0182 = 1

The empirical formula is thus C2H4O