The amounts of C and O are the same so the empirical formula has equal numbers of C and O atoms; that is, it has the general form CxHyOx. Determine the ratio of H/C (that is, y/x).

Explanation:

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In this case, since the subscripts for both carbon and oxygen are equal, one could assume the following empirical formula:

Which is suitable for formaldehyde or if it is multiplied by 2 (C₂H₄O₂) for acetic acid or ethen-1,2-diol. In such a way, computing the percent composition:

Thus, if at the beginning we just have, the percentages, one could compute moles as:

Whereas based on the initial formula:

The ratio will be:

For all the whole numbers the empirical formula was multiplied by.

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