Answer:
Molecular formula is : C₆H₈O₆
Explanation:
40.9 % of C, 4.6 % of H, 54.5 % of O means that in 100 g of ascorbic acid, we have 40.9 g of C, 4.6 g of H and 54.5 g of O.
If 1 mol of ascorbic acid weighs 176 g, let's determine the rules of three to know the grams of each element:
100 g of compound has ___ 40.9 g C __ 4.6 g H ___ 54.5 g O
176 g compound mus have:
(176 . 40.9) / 100 = 72 g of C
(176 . 4.6) / 100 = 8 g of H
(176 . 54.5) / 100 = 96 g of O
If we convert the mass to moles:
72 g . 1 mol / 12 g = 6 C
8 g . 1 mol/ 1g = 8 H
96 g . 1mol / 16 g = 6 O
Molecular formula is : C₆H₈O₆
In conclussion, 1 mol of ascorbic acid has 6 moles of C, 8 moles of H and 6 moles of O
