Let's find the empirical formula step wise.
<em>1st step - Get the mass of each element of the compound.</em>
Here, the masses of K and O are given in grams.
Mass of K = 32.3 g
Mass of O = 6.61 g
<em>2nd step - Get the molar mass of each element .</em>
Molar mass of K = 39.10 g/mol
Molar mass of O = 16.00 g/mol
<em>3rd step - find the moles of each element.</em>
We know that,
moles (mol) = mass (g) / molar mass(g/mol)
Let's apply that formula to find the moles.
Moles of K = 32.3 g / 39.10 g/mol = 0.83 mol
Moles of O = 6.61 g / 16.00 g/mol = 0.41 mol
<em>4th step - find the lowest number of moles</em>
According to the above calculations, O has the lowest number of moles as 0.41 mol.
<em>5th step - Divide the moles of each element by lowest number of moles to get the mole ratio between elements.</em>
K = 0.83 mol / 0.41 mol = 2.02 = 2
O = 0.41 mol / 0.41 mol = 1
<em>6th step - write the formula by using mole ratios.</em>
Empirical formula = K₂O₁ = K₂O