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The empirical formula is simply a chemical formula showing the smallest ratio of atoms of the elements in a compound. For example, the empirical formula of acetic acid (C2H4O2) is CH2O. If the number of moles of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen present in the original compound could be determined, the empirical formula would simply be the simplest ratio of these amounts.
Since all of the carbon in the sample is converted to carbon dioxide and all of the hydrogen is converted to water, it is relatively easy to calculate how many moles of these two elements were present in the sample. If seven moles of CO2 are produced, seven moles of carbon were initially present in the vitamin C sample. Similiarly, if five moles of H2O are produced, ten moles of hydrogen were initially present in the vitamin C sample (since five moles of H2O contain ten moles of hydrogen).
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