Calculating Empirical

Formulas for Compounds

Empirical Formula
• of chemical compound is the simplest positive
integer ratio\ of atoms present in a compound.

• or simply it is an educated guess or an

approximation as to how many elements are
within that chemical compound. It is not the
exact chemical formula.
Importance?
•The empirical formula is generally used to
simply show what elements are present
in a molecule. This is useful when one
wants to know at a glance what elements
they are dealing with.
Problem No. 1
What is the empirical formula of
a compound that contains
27.27% carbon and 72.72%
oxygen?
SOLUTION

Find molar mass of each component:

C=12.0
O=16
Convert mass to mole

• Mole of C= 27.27 g = 2.272mole

12.0 g/mole

•Mole of O = 72.72 g = 4.545 mol

16g/mol
Choose the lowest mole to determine the
lowest possible ratio, and that is 1:
• Mole of C= 2.272 = 1 mol
2.272

•Mole of O = 4.545 = 2.00 mol

2.272
Round to closest whole numbers

•C=1
• O=2

Empirical formula is CO2

PROBLEM NO. 2:
An inorganic compound is found to contain 40% calcium, 12% carbon
and the rest oxygen, what is the empirical formula of the compound?

• Solution:
Assume 100 grams of sample (since the mass of sample is not given)
Determine the mass of each element
Mass of Ca= 40 grams
Mass of C= 12 grams
Mass of oxygen= 100 – (40+12)
= 100-52
= 48 grams of oxygen
Convert mass to mole by dividing each mass
of element by the atomic mass

• Mole of Ca= 40 g = 1 mole

40 g/mole
• Mole of C= 12g = 1 mol
12 g/mol
• Mole of O = 48 g = 3 mol
16g/mol
 Choose the lowest mole to determine the
lowest possible ratio, and that is 1:

• Ca= 1 C= 1 O= 3
1 1 1

Therefore the empirical formula is Ca1C1O3 or CaCO3

Example 2: A 5.0 gram
compound is found contain
15.79% aluminum, 28.07%
sulfur and the rest oxygen. Find
its empirical formula.
Solution: Determine the mass of each element
• Mole of Al= 15.79 X 5.0 = 0.7895 grams Al
100
• Mole of S= 28.07 X 5.0 = 1.4035 grams S
100
• Mole of O = 5 – (0.7895+ 1.4035) = 2.8070 grams of O
Convert mass to mole
• Mole of Al= 0.7895 g = 0.0292 mole
27 g/mole
• Mole of S = 1.4035 g = 0.0438 mole
32.07 g/mol
• Mole of O = 2.8070 g = 0.1754 mole
16g/mol
Choose the lowest mole to determine the
lowest possible ratio, and that is 0.0292 mole

• Al= 0.0292 mol S= 0.0438 mol O= 0.1754

0.0292mol 0.0292mol 0.0292mol

=1 = 1.50 = 6.00
If you look at the numbers, Sulfur is not a whole
number, look for a multiplier to make the whole
number and that is 2
•Al = 1 (2) =2
•S = 1.5 (2) = 3
•O = 6 (2) = 12
Therefore the empirical formula is Al2S3O12
1.Multiply 0.5 by 2
2.Multiply 0.33 or 0.66 by 3
3.Multiply 0.25 or .75 by 4
Example No 3: An unknown compound
contains 68.4 % Cr and 31.6 % oxygen.
Find the compound’s empirical formula?

Mass of Cr= 68.4 grams

Mass of O = 31.6 grams
 Convert mass to mole by dividing each mass
of element by the atomic mass.
Solution:

Cr = 68.4 g of Cr X 1 mol = 1.315 mol

52 g of Cr

O= 31.6 g = 1.975 mol 16

g/mol
 Choose the lowest mole to determine the
lowest possible ratio, and that is 1.315 mole

Cr = 1.315 mol= 1 O= 1.975 mol = 1.5

1.315 mol 1.315 mol
Multiply to get a whole number:

Cr 1 (2) O1.5 (2) = Cr 2 O3

Calculating Molecular Formulas
for Compounds
Molecular Formula
•gives the actual whole number
ratio of atoms of each elements
present in a compound.
Example 1: A compound is 75.46% carbon, 4.43%
hydrogen, and 20.10 % oxygen by mass. It has a
molecular weight of 318 g/mole. What is the
molecular formula for this compound?
Solution:
Mass of C = 75.46 grams
Mass of H = 4.43 grams
Mass of O = 20.10 grams
Notice that the sum of the masses is not equal to 100,
this might be due to the presence of impurities which
is negligible or due to rounding- off.
• Convert mass to mole
• Mole of C = 75.46 g = 6.288moles
12 g/mol
• Mole of H= 4.43 g = 4.43 moles
1 g/mol
• Mole of O = 20.10 g = 1.256 moles
16 g/mol
Determine the lowest possible whole number ratio
by using the lowest mole as divisor, 1.256 moles.
•C= 6.288mol = 5.00 X 2
1.256 mol
• H= 4.43 mol = 3.5 X2
1.256mol
•O = 1.256 m ol = 1 X2
1.256 mol
Notice that one of the numbers is not whole number, the multiplier is 2. Therefore the empirical formula
is
C10H7O2

• Given the empirical formula, determine the empirical

mass
12 (10) + 1 (7) + 16 (2) = 159 amu OR g/mol
Knowing the molecular mass, determine the actual number of atoms per
element C10H7O2

C10H7O2 X = 318 amu

159 X= 318
159 159
X= 2
Therefore:
• Molecular formula is

C10 (x) H7 (x) O2 (x) =

C10 (2) H7 (2) O2 (2) = C20 H14 O4
Example No 2: Nicotine has a molar mass of 162. 1 g/mol and
a composition of 74.0 % C, 8.70 %of H and 17.3 % of
Nitrogen. Find the molecular formula.
Solution:
Mass of C = 74 grams
Mass of H = 8.70 grams
Mass of N = 17.3 grams
Grams to Mole
C= 74 g of C X 1 mol = 6. 1615 mol
12 g of C
H= 8.70 g of O X 1 mol = 8.613 mol
16 g of O
N= 17.3 g of N X 1 mol = 1.234 mol
14.01 g of N
Divide by the smallest number of mole
• C = 6. 1615 mol = 5
1.234 mol
• H= 8.613 mol = 7
1.234 mol
• N = 1.234 mol = 1
1.234mol
Find the molar mass of empirical formula

• C = 5 X 12.01 = 60.05
• H= 7X 1.01 = 7.01
• N= 1 X 14.01 = 14.01
= 81.13 g/mol
• Divide
Molar formula Molar mass
Empirical Molar mass
162.1 g/mol
81.13 g/mol
= 1.99 or 2
X=2
Multiply whole number to subscripts of
empirical formula:

Molecular formula is

C5 (2) H7 (2) N1 (2) = C10 H14 N2