5 Compute the empirical. Our molecule contains 4000 carbon 672 hydrogen and 5328 oxygen. Get the mass of each element by assuming a certain overall mass for the sample 100 g is a good mass to assume when working with percentages.
Empirical formulas can be determined from the percent composition of a compound as discussed in section 68.
Determine which element has the smallest mole. The beauty of this little trick is that you conveniently gift. You should be able to determine the empirical formula for any compound as long as you know the mass of each element present the percentage of mass for each present element or the molecular formula of the compound. Convert the masses from Step 1 into moles using the molar mass.