1 mole of carbon dioxide contains a mass of 44 g, out of which 12 g are carbon. Hence, in this case the mass of carbon in 8.46 g of CO2: (12/44) × 8.46 = 2.3073 g 1 mole of water contains 18 g, out of which 2 g is hydrogen; Therefore, 2.6 g of water contains; (2/18) × 2.6 = 0.2889 g of hydrogen. Therefore, with the amount of carbon and hydrogen from the hydrocarbon we can calculate the empirical formula. We first calculate the number of moles of each, Carbon = 2.3073/12 = 0.1923 moles Hydrogen = 0.2889/1 = 0.2889 moles Then, we calculate the ratio of Carbon to hydrogen by dividing with the smallest number value; Carbon : Hydrogen 0.1923/0.1923 : 0.2889/0.1923 1 : 1.5 (1 : 1.5) 2 = 2 : 3 Hence, the empirical formula of the hydrocarbon is C2H3
