Empirical formula is one of the very basic and important concepts in Chemistry. Empirical formula is found by the simplest whole number ratio of number of atoms in a given compound and is the simplest chemical formula of a compound. Empirical formula calculator is the online tool used to find the empirical formula for the given atoms in a compound.
Example 1: Find the empirical formula of an unknown compound given the elemental composition data as: C= 48% O= 42% H= 10%?
If considered the total composition of the compound=100 grams.
Then > mass of carbon C=48g, mass of oxygen O=42g, mass of hydrogen H=10g
Convert ‘grams’ to ‘moles’ > moles of carbon=4.00, moles of oxygen=2.63, moles of hydrogen=9.92
Now divide moles of each element by the lowest number of moles.
Then we get > The ratio of moles C:O:H= 1.52: 1:3.78.
Rounding the numbers to their nearest whole numbers, we get
The empirical formula= C2H1O4
Example 2: Find the empirical formula of an unknown compound given the elemental composition data as: Carbon C= 50% Nitrogen N= 50%?
If considered the total amount of the compound is 100 grams.
Then mass of carbon C=50g, mass of nitrogen N=50g
Now, convert ‘grams’ to ‘moles’
The amount of moles of each C and N are 4.16 and 3.57 respectively.
Now divide moles of each element by the lowest number of moles.
The ratio of Carbon moles: Nitrogen moles is 1.16: 1
This makes the possible empirical formula = CN.