Can I have a definition of empirical formula please?
The empirical formula of a substance is the simplest ratio of the number of moles of each element in a compound. The emprical formula is ambiguous, e.g. the formula CH could represent CH, C2H2, C3H3 etc. These latter formulae are called molecular formulae. It follows that the molecular formula is always a whole number multiple of the empirical formula for a compound. Calculating the empirical formula is easy if the relative amounts of each element in the compound are known. For Example, if a sample contains 1.37 mol oxygen and 2.74 mol hydrogen, we can calculate the empirical formula. A good strategy to use is to divide all amounts given by the smallest non-integer amount, then multiply by whole numbers until the simplest ratio is found. We can make a table showing the successive ratios. Eg. if Molecular formula is C3H6 iTS EMP. FORMULA IS CH.
