An organic acid contains 41.4% carbon, 3.47% hydrogen, and 55.1% oxygen by mass. A 0.050 mol sample of this compound weighs 5.80 g. What is the molecular formula of this acid? CHO C6H6O6 C3H3O C2H2O2 C4H4O4

To find the molecular formula of the organic acid, we need to follow these steps:

1. First, we need to find the empirical formula. To do this, we assume that we have 100g of the compound. This means that we have 41.4g of carbon, 3.47g of hydrogen, and 55.1g of oxygen.

2. Next, we convert these masses to moles. The molar mass of carbon (C) is approximately 12.01 g/mol, hydrogen (H) is approximately 1.008 g/mol, and oxygen (O) is approximately 16.00 g/mol.

   Moles of C = 41.4g / 12.01g/mol = 3.45 mol Moles of H = 3.47g / 1.008g/mol = 3.44 mol Moles of O = 55.1g / 16.00g/mol = 3.44 mol

3. Now, we divide each of these mole values by the smallest one to get the ratio of the atoms. In this case, the smallest value is 3.44.

   Ratio of C = 3.45 / 3.44 = 1.00 ~ 1 Ratio of H = 3.44 / 3.44 = 1.00 ~ 1 Ratio of O = 3.44 / 3.44 = 1.00 ~ 1

   So, the empirical formula is CHO.

4. To find the molecular formula, we need to find the molar mass of the empirical formula and compare it to the molar mass of the compound. The molar mass of CHO is approximately 29.02 g/mol.

5. We know that a 0.050 mol sample of the compound weighs 5.80 g, so the molar mass of the compound is 5.80g / 0.050 mol = 116 g/mol.

6. The ratio of the molar mass of the compound to the molar mass of the empirical formula is 116 g/mol / 29.02 g/mol = 4.00 ~ 4.

7. Multiply the subscripts in the empirical formula by this ratio to get the molecular formula.

   Therefore, the molecular formula of the organic acid is C4H4O4.