PERCENT COMPOSITION AND CHEMICAL FORMULAS

           
The Law of Definite Proportions suggests that any sample of a given
compound always consists of the same elements in the same proportion by mass.
This helps determine the composition of a compound or the relative quantities of
each constituent element.
 
So how is the percent by mass of an element computed?
 
Percent Composition
            The mass of each element in a chemical formula as well as its percent
composition in the compound may be obtained. The general formula for
calculating the percent composition of an element in a compound is given by

where A is the element of interest. Percent composition is the percent by mass of

each element in a formula.
 
Get your periodic table. You should know where the atomic mass of each
element is. Let’s try to solve the following problems.
Sample Problems:
1.  Calculate the percent composition of CO2
Step 1: Compute the formula or molecular mass of the compound CO2
Formula mass of CO2 = (atomic mass of C x 1) + (atomic mass of O x 2)
                                    = (12 amu x 1) + (16 amu x 2)
                                    = 12 amu + 32 amu
                                    = 44 amu
Step 2: Compute the percent composition of each constituent element using
the general formula.
            % element =                atomic mass                x 100
                                    Formula or molecular mass
                        Solution:
                                    % C=    12 amu    x 100 = 27.27 %C
                                                44 amu
 
                                    % O=    32 amu  x 100  = 72.73 %O
                                                44 amu
 Step 3: The percent composition of all the elements composing a particular
compound should always add up to 100%
                       27%C + 72.73%O = 100%
 
2.  What is the percent composition of lactic acid, C 3H6O3, a component that
appears in the blood after vigorous activity?
Step 1: Compute formula mass or molecular mass
            C  = 3 x 12amu = 36 amu
H= 6 x 1amu    = 6 amu
O= 3 x 16 amu = 48 amu
                                                       90 amu
            Step 2:
                        %C =    36 amu  x 100 = 40% C
                                    90 amu
                       
                        %H =    6 amu  x 100 = 6.7% H
                                    90 amu
 
                        %O =   48 amu  x 100 = 53.3% O
                                    90 amu
 
Try this!
            What is the percent composition of C5H8NO4, a compound used to
flavor foods and tenderize meats? Share your answer in the forum section.
 
Chemical Formula from Percent Composition
       The chemical formula of a compound can be derived from a given percent
composition of its elements. This usually applies during chemical analysis, when a
compound is broken down into its elements to determine its percent composition.
 
Sample Problem:
Identify the molecular formula of a compound that was found to contain 40.00%
carbon, 6.71% hydrogen, and 53.29 % oxygen. The molar mass of the compound is
60.05 g/mol or amu.
 Solution:
Assume the percent composition to be equal to 100 g in total. The masses
are then converted to moles. In 100g of the compound:
From here, a chemical formula may already be written: C3.33H6.66O3.33
The formula may be reduced to the simplest ratio of the subscript by dividing each
subscript by 3.33. In doing so, the empirical formula of the compound is obtained.

Recall that the subscript 1 is not written in the formula.

            Empirical formula: CH2O
*Note: Empirical formula is the simplest ratio of the atoms composing the
compound.
 
The mass of the empirical formula, called empirical mass, can be obtained:
            Empirical mass CH2O = (12 amu x 1) + (1 amu x 2) + (16 amu x 1)
                                                = 30 amu
It follows that the molar mass must be a multiple of the empirical formula mass.

RECAP! So what is the difference between empirical and molecular formula?

 An empirical formula consists of the symbols of all the elements present in
the compound, with the subscripts showing the smallest whole-number ratio
of the atoms in the compound.
 A molecular formula gives the actual number of each kind of atom present
in a molecule of the compound.
https://youtu.be/tXE92I4W94M
You can watch the lecture video below.
References:
Textbook:
Ilao, L, Lontoc, B. et al., (2016). General Chemistry 1. Rex Book Store, pp.88-92
 
Bayquen, A., Peña. (2016). Exploring Life Through Science. Phoenix Publishing
House, Inc., pp. 84-87
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