Answer:
Na₂SO₄
Explanation:
Assume that you have 100 g of the compound.
Then you have 32.37 g Na, 22.57 g S, and 45.05 g O.
1. Calculate the moles of each element.
Moles of Na = 32.37 × 1/22.99 = 1.408 mol Na
Moles of S = 22.57 × 1/32.06 = 0.7040 mol S
Moles of O = 45.05 × 1/16.00 = 2.816 mol O
2. Calculate the molar ratios.
Divide all values by the smallest number.
Na: 1.408/0.7040 = 2.000
S: 0.7040/0.7040 = 1
O: 2.816/0.7040 = 4.000
3. Determine the empirical formula
Round off all numbers to the closest integer.
Na: 2
S: 1
O: 4
The empirical formula is Na₂SO₄.
