High School

What is the empirical formula of a compound composed of 35.5 g potassium (K) and 7.26 g oxygen (O)?

Answer :

Final answer:

The empirical formula of a compound composed of 35.5g of potassium and 7.26g of oxygen is K2O, which is calculated by converting the given quantities of each element into moles and then finding the simplest whole-number ratio.

Explanation:

The empirical formula of a compound represents the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms in a compound. First, we convert the mass of each element to moles. The atomic mass of potassium (K) is approximately 39.10 g/mol and of oxygen (O) is approximately 16.00 g/mol.

So, 35.5g of potassium = 35.5g / 39.10 g/mol ≈ 0.908 moles of K.

And, 7.26g of oxygen = 7.26g / 16.00 g/mol ≈ 0.453 moles of O.

The ratio of moles of K to O is therefore 0.908/0.453 = 2:1 approximately. Therefore, the empirical formula of this compound is K2O.

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