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What is the empirical formula of a compound that has a carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of 2 to 6?

1 Answer

Mar 22, 2016

It's asking you what empirical formula means.

An empirical formula is a chemical formula containing the lowest-reduced subscripts. You can think of it as a fraction:

$\frac{6 H}{2 C} \times \frac{1/2}{1/2} \to \frac{3 H}{1 C}$ $"6 H"/"2 C"xx"1/2"/"1/2" -> "3 H"/"1 C"$

Therefore, $C_{2} H_{6}$ $"C"_2"H"_6$ reduces to ${CH}_{3}$ $\mathbf("CH"_3)$ . This is not actually a very stable compound, but it's real.

A methyl radical has the structural formula $\cdot {CH}_{3}$ $cdot"CH"_3$ (so its carbon has one nonbonding valence electron). It is neutral.

![ chemwiki.ucdavis.edu )

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