Question

How do you calculate the empirical formula of a hydrocarbon?

Answer 1

How else but by experiment......?

Explanation:

And `"empirical"` actually means `"experimental"`. And thus you take a known mass of hydrocarbon, combust it in a furnace, and the volumes of carbon dioxide and water that are evolved in the combustion may be accurately measured. [See here.](https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-empirical-formula?source=search) And from the `%C`, `%H`, `%N` figures we can get an `"empirical formula"`, and given a measurement of molecular weight, we can calculate a `"molecular formula."`

See here for another example. See here for the process of combustion.