To do this look up the mass of each element present in the compound and then multiply that number by the subscript that appears after its symbol in the formula. Examples of empirical formula The molecular formula of ethane is C2H6. In order to find a whole-number ratio divide the moles of each element by whichever of the moles from step 2 is the smallest.
Assume a 100 g sample of the compound so that the given percentages can be directly converted into grams.
You can either use mass data in grams or percent composition. How to Calculate Empirical Formula. I have the shortest method ever to do it although its no. This video is super helpful in understandin.