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Chapter 2: Problem 41

Give an example of a case in which two molecules have different molecular formulas but the same empirical formula.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Ethene (Molecular Formula: C2H4) and Butene (Molecular Formula: C4H8) are examples of two molecules that have different molecular formulas but share the same empirical formula, which is CH2.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding molecular and empirical formulas

An empirical formula represents the simplest integer ratio of the elements in a compound. On the other hand, a molecular formula indicates the actual number of atoms of each element in a molecule. For an empirical and molecular formula to be the same, each element’s atom quantity should be unable to simplify to smaller whole numbers.
02

Finding Examples of different molecular formulas but the same empirical formula

Let's consider Ethene (C2H4) and Butene (C4H8). The molecular formula for Ethene is C2H4 and for Butene is C4H8. Despite their different molecular formulas, if you reduce C2H4 and C4H8 to their simplest form, they both have an empirical formula of CH2. The original molecular formulas describe the exact number of atoms present in a single molecule of each substance, while the empirical formula shows the simplest whole-number ratio of the atoms in both substances. In this case, the empirical formula is the same, CH2, even though the molecular formulas (C2H4 for Ethene and C4H8 for Butene) are different.

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