Empirical formula is the simplest ratio of whole numbers of components in a compound
molecular formula is the actual ratio of components in a compound .
the molecular formula for the compounds given are as follows
ethyne - C₂H₂
ethene - C₂H₄
ethane - C₂H₆
methane - CH₄
the actual ratios of the elements simplified ratio
C : H C : H
ethyne 2:2 1:1
ethene 2:4 1:2
ethane 2:6 1:3
methane 1:4 1:4
the only compound where the actual ratio is equal to the simplified ratio is methane
therefore in methane molecular formula CH₄ is the same as empirical formula CH₄
The idea here is that you need to figure out how many moles of magnesium chloride,
MgCl
2
, you need to have in the target solution, then use this value to determine what volume of the stock solution would contain this many moles.
As you know, molarity is defined as the number of moles of solute, which in your case is magnesium chloride, divided by liters of solution.
c
=
n
V
So, how many moles of magnesium chloride must be present in the target solution?
c
=
n
V
⇒
n
=
c
⋅
V
n
=
0.158 M
⋅
250.0
⋅
10
−
3
L
=
0.0395 moles MgCl
2
Now determine what volume of the target solution would contain this many moles of magnesium chloride
c
=
n
V
⇒
V
=
n
c
V
=
0.0395
moles
3.15
moles
L
=
0.01254 L
Rounded to three sig figs and expressed in mililiters, the volume will be
V
=
12.5 mL
So, to prepare your target solution, use a
12.5-mL
sample of the stock solution and add enough water to make the volume of the total solution equal to
250.0 mL
.
This is equivalent to diluting the
12.5-mL
sample of the stock solution by a dilution factor of
20
.
