Empirical formula problem?
What do you do when the mass of the element is greater than the percent it takes up in the compound?
What is the empirical formula of a compound that is 34.6% Gallium, 17.8% Carbon, & 47.6% Oxygen?
How do I figure out how many moles Gallium has!?
Atomic mass of Gallium = 69.723
Comments
The total percentage of the elements represents 100% of the compound. Now, assume that each element mentioned represents that many grams.
mass Ga = 34.6 g
mass C = 17.8 g
mass O = 47.6 g
Now, calculate the moles of each element.
moles Ga = 34.6 g(1 mole)/(69.723 g) = 0.4962 moles Ga
moles C = 17.8 g(1 mole)/(12.011 g) = 1.482 moles C
moles O = 47.6 g(1 mole)/(15.999 g) = 2.975 moles O
Now, divide each of the moles by the smallest amount to obtain the relative number of each atom in the compound.
Ga (0.4962 )/(0.4962 ) = 1.00 = 1 atom
C (1.482)/(0.4962) = 2.987 = 3 atoms
O (2.975)/(0.4962) = 5.996 = 6 atoms
Empirical formula = GaC3O6
Hope this is helpful to you. JIL HIR