High School

Phosgene, a poisonous gas used during WWI, is composed of \( 12.1\% \mathrm{C}, 16.2\% \mathrm{O}, \) and \( 71.1\% \mathrm{Cl} \).

What is the empirical formula of phosgene?

Answer :

Final answer:

The empirical formula of Phosgene is COCl2, found by converting the provided mass percentages into moles and determining the smallest whole number ratio of those moles.

Explanation:

The empirical formula for Phosgene is COCl2. This is achieved through using the provided percentages of the elements and assuming a 100g sample. This allows us to convert the percentages into grams, which in turn can be converted into moles.

For Carbon: 12.1g is approximately 1.008 moles. For Oxygen: 16.2g is approximately 1.013 moles. For Chlorine: 71.1g is approximately 2.007 moles. As empirical formulas represent the smallest whole number ratio of atoms in a compound, we divide all the mole quantities by the smallest quantity to find the ratio, which yields COCl2.

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