How can I calculate the empirical formula of MgO?

1 Answer
anor277
May 20, 2018

Well, you MEASURE the empirical formula of #MgO#...

Explanation:

Take an accurately measured mass of magnesium metal....burn it in crucible, and carefully measure the mass of the crucible after the reaction...the difference is the mass of magnesium oxide....and from this mass you subtract the mass of the metal to give you the mass of oxygen in the compound.

And then, interrogate the molar quantities of each element...and you should get 1:1...

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