BRAINCAKEEmpirical Formula Calculation
The empirical formula can be calculated using chemical analysis to determine the mass of each element in a compound or the percentage composition by mass of each element in a compound. This can be used to find the number or relative number of moles of each element by dividing the mass or percentage mass by the relative atomic mass. This can then be converted into a whole number ratio in its simplest terms.
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Key terms in this lesson
- Relative atomic mass
- The weighted mean mass of all the isotopes of an element compared to one-twelfth the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
- Mole
- The amount of substance that contains as many particles as there are atoms in exactly 12g of carbon-12.
- Empirical formula
- The simplest whole number ratio of atoms of each element in a compound.
More in Amount of Substance
- Amount of Substance
- Molar Mass
- Empirical Formula
- Relative Formula Mass
- Relative Molecular Mass
- Molecular Formula
- Hydrated Salts
- Solutions and Concentrations
All 16 lessons in Amount of Substance · All OCR AS-level Chemistry topics