Empirical and

Molecular Formula
Lesson 1 Word Equation Symbols

Symbols Meaning
  Yield
 
  Reversible reaction
 
  Evolution of gas
 
  Formation of precipitate
 
Δ Heat
(s) Solid state
(l) Liquid state
(aq) Aqueous solution
(+) Added to
(g) Gaseous state
Atomic mass and Atomic
weight/relative atomic mass
Atomic mass
•Mass of an atom
•Total mass of protons, electrons and neutrons in
an atom
Atomic weight/relative atomic mass
•The average of the atomic masses of all the
chemical element's isotopes
– H = 1 g/mole
– O = 16 g/mole
Molecular weight (MW)

• Also called formula weight

• Sum of all the atomic weight of all the
atoms in a molecule
– NaCl: Na: 1 x 23 = 23 g/mole
Cl: 1 x 35 = 35 g/mole
58 g/mole
MOLE
Percentage Composition
Empirical Formula
• Gives the lowest whole number ratio of
elements in a compound
• Example: benzene (C6H6) has a ratio of 6:6 or
1:1; therefore the empirical formula is CH
Sample Problem:
1. Find the empirical formula of a compound
that is 48.38% carbon, 8.12% hydrogen, and
43.5% oxygen by mass.
Solution:

a. Get the mass of each element by assuming a certain

overall mass for the sample (100 g).
C = 48.38% = 48.38 g
H = 8.12% = 8.12 g
O = 43.50% = 43.50 g
100.00 g
b. Convert the mass of each element to moles of each
element using their atomic masses.
c. Find the ratio of each element by dividing the number of
moles of each by the smallest number of moles.
d. Use the mole ratio to write the empirical formula.
(because not all the answers are whole
numbers, multiply the ratios by a number to
make them whole).
Empirical Formula: C3H6O2

Practice: Calculate the empirical formula of a

compound composed of 4.5 g of carbon and 1.5 g
of hydrogen.
Molecular Formula

• Gives the actual formula of a compound

• Could either be the same as the empirical
formula or be a whole-number multiple of
the empirical formula
• Example: C6H6 is the molecular formula of
the empirical formula CH
Sample Problem:

1. The empirical formula for vitamin C is C3H4O3. Based from an

experimental data, the molecular mass of vitamin C is about 180 g/mole.
What is the molecular formula of vitamin C?
Solution:
a) Divide the molecular weight by the empirical formula weight to find a
multiple or factor.
b) Multiply the subscript of the empirical formula with the factor or multiple.
Practice: A compound is composed of 40.00% C, 6.72% H, and 53.29% O;
and has a molecular weight of 180 g/mol. Compute its molecular formula.
 Additional Practices
Solve for the following:
1.A compound is found to consist of 7.81 % C
and 92.19 % Cl. What is the EF of the
compound?
2.A compound is found to consist of 43.64 %
P and 56.36 %O. The molar mass for the
compound is 283.88 g/mol. What is the
empirical formula and molecular formula of
the compound?