In an experiment, the molar mass of the compound was determined to be 228.276 g/mol. What is the molecular formula of the compound?

The answer is:

Empirical formula= C3H8O2

Molecular formula= C9H24O6

First, we need to calculate how many moles of each element are present in the chemical reaction by dividing the given information (grams) into the molecular mass of each element:

Carbon: 12,011 g/mol

Hydrogen: 1,008 g/mol

Oxygen: 15,999 g/mol

Calculating the moles of each element:

Moles of Carbon =

Moles of Hydrogen =

Moles of Oxygen =

Then, we need to determinate the mole ratio. We can do it by dividing each result into the smallest value of moles (2.62 moles (O))

To get entire numbers, we will use the 2 factor,

So,the empirical  formula will be:

C3H8O2

To know the molecular formula,

We need to divide the given molar mass of the compound by the empirical formula molecular mass to find the ratio:

So, the molecular formula will be:

Have a nice day!