CALCULATING EMPIRICAL

FORMULAS FROM
COMBUSTION ANALYSIS
AP Chemistry
Vista Ridge High School

What is combustion analysis?
Combustion analysis is often used to determine the
empirical formula of an organic compound.

A sample of an unknown substance is burned and the
gases produced are trapped and measured. The data is
then used to calculate the empirical formula of the
substance.

The data is then used to calculate the empirical formula of
the substance.
What are some important points to make
about combustion analysis?
1. The elements making up the unknown substance almost always
include carbon and hydrogen. Oxygen is often involved and nitrogen
is involved sometimes. Other elements can be involved, but problems
with C, H, O, and N predominate.
2. The mass of the unknown substance before burning it must be known.
3. The unknown will be burnt in pure oxygen, present in large excess.
4. The combustion products will be trapped separately from each other
and the mass of each combustion product will be determined. The
typical products include
CO
2
(used to calculate the amount of carbon in the unknown)
H
2
O (used to calculate the amount of hydrogen in the unknown)
NO
2
, N
2
or even NH
3
from a different analysis (used to determine
the amount of nitrogen in the unknown)
Note: The amount of oxygen is usually determined by subtraction.


How can we calculate the empirical formula
of a compound from its combustion
analysis?
Example 1: A 1.50 g sample of a hydrocarbon undergoes
complete combustion to produce 4.40 g of CO
2
and 2.70 g
of H
2
O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?

1. Determine the number of moles of carbon and
hydrogen.
4.40 g CO
2

12.01 g C
44.01 g CO
2

1 mol C
12.01 g C
= 0.0999 mol C


2. Divide each value by the smaller value.


2.70 g H
2
O
2.016 g H
18.02 g H
2
O

1 mol H
1.008 g H
= 0.300 mol H
Carbon =
0.0999 mol
0.0999 mol
= 1
Hydrogen =
0.300
0.0999
= 3
CH
3
Example 2: A 0.2500 g sample of a compound known to contain
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen undergoes complete combustion
to produce 0.3664 g of CO
2
and 0.1500 g of H
2
O.
a. What is the empirical formula of this compound?
1. Determine the mass and moles of C and H.
0.3664 g CO
2

12.01 g C
44.01 g CO
2
= 0.09999 g C
1 mol C
12.01 g C
= 0.008325 mol C


2. Determine the mass and moles of O.


3. Divide each value by the smallest value.

0.1500 g H
2
O
2.016 g H
18.02 g H
2
O
= 0.01681g H
1 mol H
1.008 g H
= 0.01668 mol H
C =
0.008325 mol
0.008325 mol
= 1 H =
0.01668
0.008325
= 2
CH
2
O
0.2500 g 0.09999 g + 0.01681 g = 0.1332 g
1 mol O
16.00 g O
= 0.008325 mol O
O =
0.008325 mol
0.008325 mol
= 1
b. If the compound has a molar mass of 90.0 g mol
-1
, what is
the molecular formula of this compound?
1. Determine the molar mass of the empirical formula.
12.01 g mol
-1
+ 2(1.008 g mol
-1
) + 16.00 g mol
-1
= 30.02 g mol
-1

2. Divide the molar mass of the molecular formula by the
molar mass of the empirical formula.



90.0
30.02
= 3
C
3
H
6
O
3