Molecular Formula

Molecular Formula of a compound is defined as the formula that tells us how may atoms are there in a molecule of the compound. It tells us exactly how many atoms are required to form a molecule. We know that molecular formula of water is H2O. This signifies that in a water molecule we have two atoms of Hydrogen and an Oxygen atoms linked together to form a water molecule.

Molecular Formula Examples

Molecular Formula for various compounds are,

  • Molecular Formula of Benzene: C6H6
  • Molecular Formula of Ethyl Alcohol: C2H5OH
  • Molecular Formula of Ethane: C2H6

Empirical Formula

Empirical Formula in chemistry is defined as the simplest ratio of the elements present in the compound. It does not take into account that these elements are connected with each other in any manner. This is explained in the formula of Glucose as we know that the formula for Glucose is C6H12O6 here we see that there are 3 atoms in the glucose molecule, they are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, Now the ratio of these elements is 1: 2: 1 i.e. for one molecule of hydrogen we have 2 molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen. So its empirical formula is CH2O. It doesn’t tell us how many elements of each element are there in the Glucose molecule.

In this article, we will learn about the Empirical Formula in Chemistry, Molecular Formula, the Difference between Molecular Formula and Empirical Formula, and others in detail.

Table of Content

  • Empirical Formula
  • Molecular Formula
  • Molecular Formula Vs Empirical Formula
  • Empirical Formula of Various Compounds
  • How to Find Molecular Formula from Empirical Formula?

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Empirical Formula

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Molecular Formula

Empirical formula in Chemistry is the simplest formula for a compound. It is defined as the ratio of subscripts of the smallest possible whole number of the elements present in the formula. This formula gives information about the ratio of the number of atoms in the compound....

Molecular Formula Vs Empirical Formula

Molecular Formula of a compound is defined as the formula that tells us how may atoms are there in a molecule of the compound. It tells us exactly how many atoms are required to form a molecule. We know that molecular formula of water is H2O. This signifies that in a water molecule we have two atoms of Hydrogen and an Oxygen atoms linked together to form a water molecule....

Empirical Formula of Various Compounds

The molecular formula and empirical formula of various compounds are different (in some special cases they can be same). They represent different properties of the compound. The differences between Empirical Formula and the Molecular Formula of the compound are given below in the table....

How to Find Molecular Formula from Empirical Formula?

Emperical formula of any compound only tells us that how many atoms are in any compound and they are in which ratio. Empirical formula for some important compounds are discussed below....

Examples of Emperical Formula

We can easily calculate the molecular formula from empirical formula by following the steps added below,...

FAQs on Empirical Formula

Example 1: The Empirical formula of Butane is C2H5. Calculate the Molecular formula when the measured mass of the compound is 58.1224...