A compound containing carbon and hydrogen was found to have an empirical formula of CH. The molar mass of the compound was found to be 26.04 g/mol. What is the molecular formula?

The empirical formula of CH indicates that the compound contains one carbon atom (C) and one hydrogen atom (H). The molar mass of the compound is given as 26.04 g/mol. This molar mass corresponds to the empirical formula CH. To find the molecular formula, we need to determine how many times the empirical formula (CH) needs to be multiplied to achieve the given molar mass (26.04 g/mol). The molar mass of carbon (C) is approximately 12 g/mol, and the molar mass of hydrogen (H) is approximately 1 g/mol. The molar mass of the empirical formula CH is 12 g/mol (for carbon) + 1 g/mol (for hydrogen) = 13 g/mol. To find the molecular formula, we divide the given molar mass (26.04 g/mol) by the molar mass of the empirical formula (13 g/mol): Molecular formula multiplier = Molar mass / Empirical formula molar mass Molecular formula multiplier = 26.04 g/mol / 13 g/mol Molecular formula multiplier ≈ 2 This means that the molecular formula is two times the empirical formula: Molecular formula = 2(CH) Molecular formula = C2H2 Therefore, the molecular formula of the compound is C2H2.