A compound containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Combustion analysis of a 4.30- g sample of butyric acid produced 8.59g CO2 and 3.52 H2O.Find the empirical formula .
mass of CO2 given in the problem is 8.5900g , convert the mass to moles by dividing mass in grams with the molar mass of CO2
8.59 / 44 = 0.193 moles of CO2
In CO2 there are 1 mole of C and 2 moles of O .So, mass of C in CO2 is
.193 moles CO2 X 1 moles C / 1 mole CO2 = .193 moles of C
now convert moles of C to mass ( multiple the moles with MM of C)
.193 moles of C x 12 .01 = 2.34 g of C
Similary find the mass of H in given mass of H2O .
3.52 g of H2O/ 18 of H2O x 2 moles of H / 1 mole H2O x 1g H = 0.394 g of H
Total mass of compound :4.3000g
Mass of O = 1.5630g: mass of the compound - mass of (C+H)
Moles of O = 0.0977mmoles: / atomic weight of O to get the number of moles
check mass of C+H+O :4.3000g
moles of C = 0.1952
moles of H = 0.3911
moles of O = 0.0977
divide by smallest to get the ratio
C :2.00
H :4.00
O :1.00
Empirical formula is C2H4O
C2H4O