Mystery Gang Empirical Formulae

The mystery gang needs your help! Eight different crimes happened all at the same time. The police have
eight suspects in custody, but they are having a hard time matching up the suspects with the crimes!
These perps are clever and they planned their crimes carefully.

Get a case description (one at a time!) from the Case File Sheet. For each one:
• Determine the empirical and molecular formula of each mystery compoun. Write your solutions
on a clean sheet of paper.
• Match the compound specified in each case with the compound mentioned in the suspect board.
(If the compound you’ve founded matches with any of the compound mentioned in the suspect
board, then that person is most likely the suspect for the crime!)
• Record your findings in the table provided.

Case Empirical Molecular Name of the Suspect

Number Formula Formula Compound

6
 SUSPECT BOARD
Suspect #1: Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon just had her nails
done, and she still has traces
of nail polish remover on her
hands. Nail polish remover
contains acetone. The
formula for acetone is
C3H6O.
Suspect #3: Jenna Drinker
Jenna Drinker was making
cocktails at the Corner Bar
just before the crime
occurred. She had traces of
vodka (ethanol) on her
hands. The formula for
ethanol is C2H6O.
Suspect #5: Mick Jones
Mick Jones is English and
always adds salt and vinegar
to his fries (or chips, as he
calls them). On the day of the
crime, he had spilled vinegar
all over his hands. The
formula for vinegar is
C2H4O2.
Suspect #2: Ben Linus
Ben Linus had been
walking around in the rain
for about an hour before
the crime he was
suspected of occurred. He
was dripping wet with
water at the time. The
formula for water is H2O.
Suspect #4: George Norman
George Norman recently
had an accident where he
cut himself with a knife. He
cleaned the wound with
rubbing alcohol. The
formula for rubbing
alcohol (isopropanol) is
C3H8O.
Suspect #6: Blondie Carmichael
Blondie Carmichael just got
done touching up her roots
with hydrogen peroxide,
getting it all over the place,
before the crime occurred.
The formula for hydrogen
peroxide is H2O2.
 CASE FILE
Case #1
Jinkies! The Moaning Lisa has been stolen from the Haunted Museum! The crime scene contained traces of
a chemical that was found to be 52.11% C, 13.14% H, and 34.75% O. The molar mass of the compound is 46
g. What was the molecular formula? What art thief would be so bold?

Case #2:
Zoinks! A cat burglar broke onto the Eastman Estate and stole all of Ms. Eastman’s bling! A chemical at this
crime scene had a very strong smell. It had a percentage composition of 62.02% C, 10.43% H, and 27.55% O.
The molar mass of the compound was found to be around 58 g. What is the molecular formula of the
compound? Who should the police arrest?

Case #3:
Pirate Pete swears that the scurvy mate who stole his parrot should walk the plank. Like, creepy, man. At
this crime scene, the police found a compound which was 11.21% H and 88.79% O. The molar mass of the
compound was found to be around 18 g. What is the molecular formula? Who committed the crime?

Case #4:
Jeepers! Someone stuck into the Movie Madness studio and stole the reels for the new film! The CSI team
found a liquid at this crime scene. When 0.7700 g sample of said compound was analyzed, it was found to
contain 0.0457 g H and 0.7243 g O. Further analysis shows that the compound has an approximate molar
mass of 34 g. What is the molecular formula of the compound? Who should the police question?

Case #5:
Someone stole the net from the High Wire act at the Crazy Circus! Without it, the show can’t go on! At this
crime scene, there were traces of a liquid, 9 drops (at 0.5 g a drop) were found to contain 0.27 g C, 0.119 g
O and 0.0603 g H. The molar mass of the compound is around 60 g. What is the molecular formula of the
compound? Who committed the heinous act?

Case #6:
The original getaway vehicle that Bugsy Malone drove disappeared from the Antique Auto Show. Traces of
a strong-smelling liquid were found at this crime scene. The percentage composition of the liquid was
39.99% C, 6.73% H, and 53.28% O. Further analysis of the compound shows that it has an approximate molar
mass of 60 g. What was the molecular formula of this liquid? Who has committed the crime?