Question

Oxalic Acid, a compound found in plants and vegetables such as rhubarb, has a mass percent composition of 26.7% C, 2.24% H, and 71.1% O. Oxalic acid can interfere with respiration and cause kidney or bladder stones. If a large quantity of rhubarb leaves is ingested, the oxalic acid can be toxic. The lethal dose (LD50) in rats for oxalic acid is 375 mg/kg. Rhubarb leaves contain about 0.5% by mass of oxalic acid. (Show your work, using the insert equation tool :) What is the empirical formula of oxalic acid

Answer 1

Answer:

HCO₂

Explanation:

From the information given:

The mass of the elements are:

Carbon C = 26.7 g;     Hydrogen H = 2.24 g     Oxygen O = 71.1 g

To determine the empirical formula;

First thing is to find the numbers of moles of each atom.

For Carbon:

$=26.7 \ g\times \dfrac{1 \ mol }{12.01 \ g} \\ \\ =2.22 \ mol \ of \ Carbon$

For Hydrogen:

$=2.24 \ g\times \dfrac{1 \ mol }{1.008 \ g} \\ \\ =2.22 \ mol \ of \ Hydrogen$

For Oxygen:

$=71.1 \ g\times \dfrac{1 \ mol }{1.008 \ g} \\ \\ =4.44 \ mol \ of \ oxygen$

Now; we use the smallest no of moles to divide the respective moles from above.

For carbon:

$\dfrac{2.22 \ mol \ of \ carbon}{2.22} =1 \ mol \ of \ carbon$

For Hydrogen:

$\dfrac{2.22 \ mol \ of \ carbon}{2.22} =1 \ mol \ of \ hydrogen$

For Oxygen:

$\dfrac{4.44 \ mol \ of \ Oxygen}{2.22} =2 \ mol \ of \ oxygen$

Thus, the empirical formula is HCO₂