The empirical formula of the compound is K₂O.
Step 1. Calculate the moles of each element
The empirical formula is the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms in a compound.
The ratio of atoms is the same as the ratio of moles.
So, our job is to calculate the molar ratio of K to O.
Moles of K = 30.5 g K × (1 mol K/(39.10 g K) = 0.7801 mol K
Moles of O = 6.24 g O × (1 mol O/16.00 g O) = 0.3900 mol O
Step 2. Calculate the molar ratio of the elements
Divide each number by the smallest number of moles
Ni:F = 0.1552:0.3100 = 2.001:1 ≈ 2:1
Step 3: Write the empirical formula
EF = K₂O
