How do you determine the empirical and molecular formulas?

1 Answer
Al E.
Jul 15, 2017

Empirical formulas are ratios, molecular formulas are the actual formula for a given compound.

Explanation:

Empirical formulas are merely formulas which have the ratio of elements in a compound, whereas molecular formulas are the actual formulas for the compound.

For instance, consider glucose:

cK-12

While its molecular formula is #C_6H_12O_6#, if we divide the moles of constituent atoms by the least common denominator, we receive the empirical formula: #CH_2O_6#.

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