Empirical formula is the simplest ratio between atoms in a molecule

There are two types of empirical formula problems. Each one can be
recognized by what information is given in the problem.
A. Empirical Formula from % Composition
We are given the percent composition, and must determine the
empirical formula
Must use GAM to convert the percent by mass to moles, then
find the simplest ratio
Example 1- What is the empirical formula of a compound made of
88.9% oxygen and 11.1% hydrogen?
In these problems, assume you have a 100 g sample
O = 88.9% or 88.9 g
H = 11.1% or 11.1 g
Now turn the grams of elements into moles
O = 88.9 g
16.00 g/mole
= 5.55 moles
H = 11.1 g
1.01 g/mole
= 11.0 moles
The ratio of H to O is 11.0 to 5.55 or about 2 : 1
This means that there are 2 H for each O or H
2
O
Steps
1. Assume a 100 g sample % g
2. Determine the moles of atoms Divide by GAM
3. If you cant see the simplest ratio, divide both numbers by the
smallest number
4. Write out the empirical formula
Example 2- What is the empirical formula of a compound made of
36.3 % oxygen and 63.7 % nitrogen ?
Step 1
36.3% oxygen = 36.3 g of oxygen
63.7% nitrogen = 63.7 g of nitrogen
Step 2
63.7 g of N
14.01 g/mole
= 4.55 moles of N
36.2 g of O
16.00 g/mole
= 2.26 moles of O
Step 3
4.556 moles : 2.26 moles
2:1
Step 4 N
2
O

3. What is the empirical formula of a compound which is 42.9%
carbon and 57.1% oxygen?
42.9 g of C
57.1 g of O
12.01 g/mole
16.00 g/mole
= 3.57 moles =3.57 moles
Ratio is 1:1
Formula is CO
B. Molecular Formula from Empirical Formula
In this case, we know the GMM of the molecule and the empirical
formula
For example
What is the molecular formula of a compound with a gram
molecular mass of 42.0 g/mole and an empirical formula of CH
2
?
We know that the molecular formula is some multiple of CH
2
CH
2
C
2
H
4
C
3
H
6
C
4
H
8
C
5
H
10
or others.
We need to find one that adds up to 42.0 g/mole
A simple way to do this is
1. Determine the mass of the empirical formula
2. Divide the GMM by the mass of the empirical formula
3. Multiply the empirical formula by the # of empirical formulas
The mass of the empirical formula = 14.03 g/mole
Dividing the GMM by this number we get
42.0
14.03
= 2.99
This means that we need 3 sets of the empirical formula or
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
Or C
3
H
6
1. If the empirical formula of a compound is CH
3
, and the
molecular mass is calculated to be 150.0 g/mole, what is the most
likely molecular formula for this compound?
Molec mass of CH
3
= 15.04 g/mole
150.0 g/mole
15.04 g/mole
= 9.97 or about 10 sets of CH
3
C
10
H
30
2. The empirical formula of is HO, and the gram molecular mass of
the compound is 34.02 g/mole. What is the molecular formula?
Molec mass of HO = 17.01 g/mole
34.02 g/mole
17.01 g/mole
= 2 sets of HO

H
2
O
2