How do you determine the simplest formula of a compound?

The simplest formula of a compound is determined by reducing the ratio of its elements to the smallest whole numbers.

To determine the simplest formula of a compound, you need to know the relative amounts of each element present in the compound. This information can be obtained from experimental data or given in a problem. The simplest formula, also known as the empirical formula, represents the smallest whole number ratio of the elements in the compound.

Firstly, you need to convert the amounts of each element to moles, as the formula is based on the mole ratio, not the mass ratio. To do this, divide the mass of each element by its relative atomic mass. This will give you the number of moles of each element.

Next, you need to find the simplest whole number ratio of the moles of each element. To do this, divide the number of moles of each element by the smallest number of moles you calculated in the previous step. This will give you the ratio of the elements.

If the ratio is not a whole number, you may need to multiply all the numbers by the same factor to get whole numbers. For example, if the ratio is 1:1.5, you can multiply both numbers by 2 to get a ratio of 2:3.

The simplest formula of the compound is then written by using these whole number ratios as the subscripts for each element in the formula. For example, if the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is 2:1, the simplest formula would be H2O.

Remember, the simplest formula does not always represent the actual number of atoms in a molecule of the compound, it only represents the simplest, most reduced ratio of the elements. The molecular formula may be a multiple of the empirical formula.