Unit 2 Worksheet

Name…………………………………….

1. 10 ml of a gaseous hydrocarbon was burnt with 50 ml of O2 in an

eudiometer tube. The volume of products after being cooled to room
temperature was 35 ml, when treated with NaOH the volume contracted
by 30 ml. Find the molecular formula of the hydrocarbon.

2.
Sample calculation #1 for combustion analysis
1.50 g sample of hydrocarbon undergoes complete combustion to
produce 4.40 g of CO2 and 2.70 g of H2O. What is the empirical formula
of this compound?

Step 1
Mass of carbon present : 4.40 g x (12 g / 44 g) = 1.2 g
Mass of hydrogen: 2.70 g x (2 g / 18 g) = 0.3 g

Step 2
Convert grams of C and H to their respective amount of moles.
carbon: 1.2 g / 12 g = 0.1 mol
hydrogen: 0.3 g / 1g = 0.3 mol

Step 3
Divide each molar amount by the lowest value, seeking to modify the
molar amounts into small, whole numbers.
carbon: 0.1 mol / 0.1 mol = 1
hydrogen: 0.3 mol / 0.1 mol = 3

We have now arrived at the answer: the empirical formula of the

substance is CH3

3. 0.250 g sample of hydrocarbon undergoes complete combustion to

produce 0.845 g of CO2 and 0.173 g of H2O. What is the empirical
formula of this compound?
4.

Sample calculation #2
0.2500 g sample of a compound known to contain carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen undergoes complete combustion to produce 0.3664 g of CO2 and
0.1500 g of H2O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?

Solution:
1a) Determine the grams of carbon in 0.3664 g CO 2 and the grams of
hydrogen in 0.1500 g H2O.
carbon: 0.3664 g x (12 g / 44 g) = 0.1000 g
hydrogen: 0.1500 g x (2 g / 18 g) = 0.017 g
1b) Determine the grams of oxygen in the sample by subtraction.
0.2500 - (0.1000 g + 0.01678) = 0.1332 g

Then conduct calculation as in sample calculation #1

5.