Complete combustion of a 0.500 g sample of a pure hydrocarbon yielded 0.973 g CO₂ and 0.319 g H₂O.The empirical formula of this hydrocarbon is ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To find the empirical formula, calculate moles of C and H from CO2 and H2O. 0.973 g CO2 gives 0.0221 mol C, and 0.319 g H2O gives 0.0354 mol H. The mole ratio of C:H is approximately 5:8, giving the empirical formula C5H8.

Complete Combustion of a 0