[cubejunkies]

The question is as follows. I have no idea where to start.

A sample of a compound of Cl and O reacts with an excess of H2 to give 0.233 g of HCl and 0.403 g of H20. Determine the empirical formula of the compound.

I tried determining the chemical formula of this reaction, but without knowing the number of moles of Cl in the compound, I can't properly balance the equation. I also tried stoichiometric-ally determining the number of moles of Cl and O in the products, but the number of moles in each were in terms of 10^-2 and 10^-3 moles, so i couldn't use those mole values as the bases of the Cl and O compound as a basis to simplify hoping to eventually reach the empirical formula, so I'm basically stuck

I really suck at chemistry...

[Borek]

I also tried stoichiometric-ally determining the number of moles of Cl and O in the products, but the number of moles in each were in terms of 10^-2 and 10^-3 moles, so i couldn't use those mole values as the bases

That's the correct approach. There is no problem with numbers being in 0.01 and 0.001 range, as it is ratio that counts.

[opti384]

When finding empirical formula of compounds, keep in mind that in a reaction the amount of Cl and O is same (in your case) with the reactants and the products. From this you can deduce the empirical formula.

[cubejunkies]

see, i tried this, and i got 6.39 x 10^-3 moles of Cl and 2.24 x 10^-2 moles of O, and i really cant go anywhere with that because 2.24 x 10^-2 / 6.39 x 10^-3 isnt close to a whole number

[sjb]

Where does it say that the number of instances of one atom has to be 1 per compound?

If I had 77 apples, and 22 oranges, what is my fruit ratio in whole numbers?

S

[AWK]

I tried determining the chemical formula of this reaction, but without knowing the number of moles of Cl in the compound, I can't properly balance the equation.

?
Cl_xO_y + (x/2+y)H₂ = xHCl + yH2_O