Question

What is the empirical formula for the compound `C_6H_12O_6`?

Answer 1

`CH_2O`

Explanation:

The empirical formula is a chemical formula written in the simplest form by reducing the subscripts to the smallest possible whole integer. In essence, we just have to find a the smallest common term of each subscript and simplify:

If we look at `C_6H_12O_6` we can see that all subscripts are divisible by `6` so we divide each subscript by `6`. The end result is the empirical formula:

`CH_2O` - Empirical formula

`C_6H_12O_6` - Molecular formula