About the Empirical Formula
The empirical formula is the _________ ratios of the atoms in a compound
What is lowest whole-number ratios?
What is your first step in creating the empirical formula if you start with the percent of each element?
You change the percent into grams
If you have a number that ends in 0.9 or 0.1 what do you do?
You round to the closest whole number
7.00g of carbon and 1.75 of hydrogen
CH3
What is the second step in creating the empirical formula?
You convert the grams to moles by dividing
If the number ends with a number higher than 0.1 or lower than 0.9, what do you do?
You have to multiply the number until you can get a whole number
0.175g or hydrogen, 2.44g of nitrogen, and 8.38g of oxygen
HNO3
What is the third step in creating the empirical formula?
You divide the mole answers by the smallest mole value
70.9% potassium and 29.1% sulfur
K2S
What is the fourth step in creating the empirical formula if the numbers are not whole numbers?
You multiply the numbers until they create whole numbers.
55.0% of Ga and 45.0% F
GaF3
What is the fifth and final step to creating the empirical formula?
You use the whole numbers you found and write out the formula using the numbers as subscripts.