A compound contains the elements sodium, sulfur and oxygen. It was found that the percentage composition of sodium and sulfar was 29.1% and 40.5% respectively. Find the emphirical formula of the compound

To find the empirical formula of the compound, we need to convert the percentage composition of each element to moles.

1. Sodium (Na): The atomic mass of sodium is approximately 23 g/mol. So, the number of moles of sodium in the compound is 29.1 g / 23 g/mol = 1.26 mol.

2. Sulfur (S): The atomic mass of sulfur is approximately 32 g/mol. So, the number of moles of sulfur in the compound is 40.5 g / 32 g/mol = 1.27 mol.

3. Oxygen (O): The percentage composition of oxygen can be found by subtracting the percentage compositions of sodium and sulfur from 100%. So, the percentage composition of oxygen is 100% - 29.1% - 40.5% = 30.4%. The atomic mass of oxygen is approximately 16 g/mol. So, the number of moles of oxygen in the compound is 30.4 g / 16 g/mol = 1.9 mol.

The empirical formula of a compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms of each element in the compound.

To find the empirical formula, we divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles calculated.

In this case, the smallest number of moles is 1.26 mol (for sodium).

So, the ratio of sodium to sulfur to oxygen is 1.26/1.26 : 1.27/1.26 : 1.9/1.26 = 1 : 1 : 1.5.

Since we can't have half of an atom in an empirical formula, we multiply all the numbers by 2 to get whole numbers.

So, the empirical formula of the compound is Na2S2O3.