Hydroxylamine contains 42.41% N and 9.15% H by mass, with the remainder being oxygen.Determine its empirical formula.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To find the empirical formula, we calculate the moles of each element based on their given mass percentages and atomic masses. For nitrogen (N) with an atomic mass of approximately 14 g/mol, 42.41% by mass corresponds to 42.41/14 = 3.03 moles. For hydrogen (H) with an atomic mass of approximately 1 g/mol, 9.15% by mass corresponds to 9.15/1 = 9.15 moles. The remainder is oxygen (O), which makes up 100 - 42.41 - 9.15 = 48.44% by mass. With an atomic mass of approximately 16 g/mol, this corresponds to 48.44/16 = 3.03 moles. The ratio of N:H:O is thus approximately 1:3:1, leading to the empirical formula NH3O.

Hydroxylamine Contains 42