PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION

OF THE COMPOUND
Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC)
• Calculate the empirical formula from the percent
composition of a compound. STEM_GC11PCIf-32

Learning Objectives:
• Calculate the molar mass of the given compound.
• Determine the percentage composition of the
compound.
• Solve for the empirical formula given the
percentage composition of the compound.
The Percent Composition of the Compound
• The percent composition is the relative amount of the
elements present in a compound or the percent by mass
of each element in a compound. For example, the air
(CO2) that we exhale is composed of carbon and
oxygen, but do we know how many percent is carbon?
What about the oxygen?
• The percent by mass of an element in a compound is the
mass of the element divided by the mass in grams of the
compound multiplied by 100. Note that mass of the
element is the atomic mass of the element multiplied by
the number of atoms.
The Percent Composition of the Compound
• The percent composition is the relative amount of the
elements present in a compound or the percent by mass of
each element in a compound. For example, the air (CO2)
that we exhale is composed of carbon and oxygen, but do we
know how many percent is carbon? What about the oxygen?
• The percent by mass of an element in a compound is the
mass of the element divided by the mass in grams of the
compound multiplied by 100. Note that mass of the element
is the atomic mass of the element multiplied by the number
of atoms.
The Percent Composition of the Compound
SAMP
LE
PROBL
EM
SAMPLE PROBLEM
SAMPLE PROBLEM
Empirical Formula
• The Empirical Formula gives the lowest whole
number ratio of the atoms of the elements in a
compound, but not necessarily the actual number
of atoms.
• From the percent composition data, we can
calculate the empirical formula of the compound.
For example, the empirical formula of water is
H2O. The subscripts indicate that the ratio of
hydrogen to oxygen is 2:1.
Empirical Formula
• To solve the empirical formula of a compound,
we will determine the percent composition or
percentage by mass of each element in the
compound.
• A simple rhyme can be used in calculating the
empirical formula:
Empirical Formula
Empirical Formula
Empirical Formula
Empirical Formula
Empirical Formula
ANSWERS
KEY