Determination of Chemical Formulas

Why?
Chemical formulas can be determined by measuring the mass of each element
present in a sample of the compound. This conversion of macroscopic quantities of
material (grams) to the microscopic composition (number of molecules or atoms of
each element) is used by chemists, biochemists, pharmacologists and others who
work in the production of new materials for research and industrial applications.
You will need to do such calculations in order to determine the amounts of elements
or compounds present in samples or needed to produce various materials.
Learning Objectives
Identify the formula of a chemical compound from its composition.
Determine the mass percent composition of a chemical compound.
Success Criteria
Quickly calculate mass percent composition from a molecular formula or
determine the formula from the mass percent composition.
Resources
Olmsted and Williams (Chemistry 3/e, Wiley, 2002) pp. 104-113.
Prerequisites
atoms, molecules, moles, molar mass, element
New Concepts
compound, chemical or molecular formula, empirical formula
Vocabulary
macroscopic, react, chemical analysis, compound
Definitions
In your own words, write definitions of the terms in the New Concepts and
Vocabulary sections.

Determination of Chemical Formulas

Model: Chemical Analysis of Acetic Acid

Acetic acid is the active ingredient in vinegar. A chemical analysis of 157.5 g of
acetic acid provided the following information.
Element
carbon
oxygen
hydrogen

Mass of
Element (g)
63.00
83.93
10.57

Mass Percent
40.00
53.29
6.714

Moles of
Element
5.246
5.246
10.486

Whole Number
Ratio
5.246/5.246 = 1
5.246/5.246 = 1
10.486/5.246 =
2

mass percent = mass x 100/total mass

moles = mass / molar mass
The 1:1:2 ratio in the last column means that the empirical formula is (COH2).

Key Questions
1. How was the mass percent in the above table calculated from the mass for each
element?

2. How was the number of moles of each element calculated?

3. How is the empirical formula determined from the data in the table?

4. What information does the empirical formula provide?

5. What is the relationship between the ratios of moles of each element present in
the sample and the ratios of the number of atoms of each element present in each
molecule of acetic acid?

6. What feature, related to composition, do all compounds with the same mass
percent composition have?

Determination of Chemical Formulas

7. Why is the atomic mass percent composition of an unknown chemical compound

an important quantity to determine in a chemical analysis?

Exercises
1. A sample of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) was found to consist of 9.122 g Na,
0.4000 g H, 4.766 g C, and 19.04 g O. Calculate the mass percent composition,
the moles of each element present, and the empirical formula for sodium
bicarbonate.

2. Sodium carbonate (found in baking powder) has the molecular formula Na2CO3.

Calculate the molar mass of this compound, the mass percent composition of each
element in the compound, and the mass of each element present in a
73.6 g sample.

Determination of Chemical Formulas

Problems
1. Show how you can determine the molecular formula for acetic acid from the
empirical formula CH2O and the added information that the molar mass of acetic
acid is 60.05 g/mole.

2. One of the chlorofluorocarbons, which is used in refrigerator compressors and

contributes to destruction of ozone in the upper atmosphere, has a molar mass of
132.9 g/mole and a percent composition of 53.34% Cl, 28.59% F, and 18.07% C.
(a) How many grams of chlorine are there in a 100 g sample?

(b) How many moles of chlorine are there in a 100 g sample?

(c) What is the ratio of the moles of chlorine to the moles of carbon in this
compound?

(d) Calculate the empirical and molecular formulas of this compound.

3. When iron metal is exposed to air, an oxide forms, two atoms of iron combine
with three atoms of oxygen. If 5.57 g of Fe react, calculate the mass of the
product.