Chemical Formulas
Chemical formulas are used to express the composition of molecules and ionic
compounds in terms of chemical symbols. There are two types of formulas: molecular formulas
and empirical formulas.
Empirical Formulas
The empirical formula tells which elements are present and the simplest whole-number
ratio of their atoms, but not necessarily the actual number of atoms in a given molecule.
Empirical formulas are the simplest chemical formulas; they are written by reducing the
subscripts in molecular formulas to the smallest possible whole numbers.
Example 1.
What is the empirical formula of an unknown hydrocarbon found to contain 75.0% C and
25.0% H by weight? Assume that the sample weighs 50.0 g.
Step 1: Determine the mass of the individual elements.
Mass of C = 0.750 x 50.0 g
= 37.5 g
Mass of H = 0.250 x 50.0 g
= 12.5 g
Step 2: Convert the mass of the individual elements to mole by using the relationship n=m/MW.
Mole of C = 37.5 g = 3.125 mol
12 g/mol
Mole of H = 12.5 g = 12.5 mol
1 g/mol
Step 3: Determine the smallest whole-number ratio of the elements by dividing all the results in
step 2 with the smallest result.
C = 3.125 mol = 1.0 H = 12.5 mol = 4.0
3.125 mol 3.125 mol
Step 4: Write the smallest whole number ratio obtained in step 3 as the subscripts of the
elements.
CH4
Molecular Formulas
A molecular formula shows the exact number of atoms of each element in the smallest
unit of a substance. Molecular formulas are the true formulas of molecules.
Example 2
What is the molecular formula of a compound that contains 80% C and 20% H if its
molecular mass is 30 g/mol?
Step 1: Assume 100 g of sample and determine the mass of the elements.
Mass of C = 0.80 x 100.0 g
= 80 g
Mass of H = 0.20 x 100.0 g
= 20 g
Step 2: Convert the mass of the individual elements to mole by using the relationship n=m/MW.
Mole of C = 80 g = 6.67 mol
12 g/mol
Mole of H = 20 g = 20 mol
1 g/mol
Step 3: Determine the smallest whole-number ratio of the elements by dividing all the results in
step 2 with the smallest result.
C = 6.67 mol = 1.0 H = 20 mol = 2.99 or 3
6.67 mol 6.67 mol
Step 4: Write the smallest whole number ratio obtained in step 3 as the subscripts of the
elements. (empirical formula)
CH3
Step 5: Determine the empirical mass(that is, the mass of the empirical formula) of the
compound.
Empirical Mass = 12 g/mol (1) + 1 g/mol (3)
= 15 g/mol
Step 6: Divide the molecular mass with the empirical mass.
Factor = 30 g/mole = 2.0
15 g/mol
This means that the molecular mass is twice the empirical mass. The empirical formula must be
multiplied by two to become the molecular formula.
Step 7: Multiply this factor to the subscript of the empirical formula.
(CH3)2 = C2H6
Percent Composition by Mass
- the percent by mass of each element in a compound
percent composition of an element = n x molar mass of element x 100%
molar mass of compound
Example 3
Calculate the percentage composition of each element in H2O2.
%H = 2 x 1 g H x 100% = 5.88 %
34 g H2O2
%O = 2 x 16 g H x 100% = 94.12 %
34 g H2O2
Limiting Reagents
The reactant used up first in a reaction is called the limiting reagent, because the
maximum amount of product formed depends on how much of this reactant was originally
present. When this reaction is used up, no more product can be formed. Excess reagents are the
reactants present in quantities greater than necessary to react with the quantity of the limiting
reagent.
Consider the formation of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from NO and oxygen:
2NO(g) + O2(g) 2NO2(g)
Suppose initially we have 8 moles of NO and 7 moles of O2, calculate the number of moles of
NO2 obtained based on the initial quantities of NO and O2. Only the limiting reagent will yield
the smaller amount of the product.
mol NO2 = 8 mol NO x 2 mol NO2 = 8 mol
2 mol NO
mol NO2 = 7 mol O2 x 2 mol NO2 = 14 mol
1 mol NO
Because NO results in a smaller amount of NO2, it must be the limiting reagent. Therefore, O2 is
the excess reagent.
