Empirical Formulas

[Sean Phen]

How do you solve for the empirical formula?

[SamayaJoshi1A]

Hi!

You find the number of each moles in the compound and then divide by the smallest mol. From there you have to find a whole integer, and you get the empirical formula.

[Caelin Brenninkmeijer 1G]

If you're given elements in values of grams, first convert it to moles. You would then divide each molar value by the smallest of the values calculated. Round to the nearest whole number or multiple the divided value by a whole number until you can easily round to the nearest whole number. (Ex: 1.31 mol of C. Multiply this by 3 to easily round to the nearest whole number: 1.31*3=3.93 --> ≈ 4). This would then give you the empirical formula.

[AlbertGu_2C]

In order to find the empirical formula given the molecular formula, the best way is to divide each number of atoms by the greatest common denominator. Ex. C3H6O3 becomes CH2O

[George Hernandez 3I]

The empirical formula is the smallest whole number ratio of the atoms within the compound. When you solve for the chemical equation (or if you simply already have it), you can find the empirical formula by finding dividing by the lowest common multiple of each of the number of atoms in the compound.