What is the empirical formula of ethanol?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for the empirical formula of ethanol, which involves determining the simplest whole-number ratio of its constituent elements (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen).
Answer
C2H6O
The empirical formula of ethanol is C2H6O
Answer for screen readers
The empirical formula of ethanol is C2H6O
More Information
The empirical formula represents the simplest whole-number ratio of elements in a compound. For ethanol, the ratio of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms is represented as C2H6O.
Tips
A common mistake is to confuse the empirical formula with the molecular formula. The empirical formula shows the simplest ratio, while the molecular formula shows the actual number of atoms of each element in a molecule.
Sources
- Ethanol Molecular Formula and Empirical Formula - ThoughtCo - thoughtco.com
- Ethanol | CH3CH2OH | CID 702 - PubChem - pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- What is the empirical formula of ethanol? | Study.com - homework.study.com
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