a compound composed of only carbon and hydrogen contains these elements in a mass ratio C:H of 0.375. what's the empirical formula

To find the empirical formula, follow these steps:

1. Assume you have 100g of the compound. This means you have 0.375g of carbon (C) and (100-0.375)g = 99.625g of hydrogen (H).

2. Convert the mass of each element to moles. The atomic mass of C is approximately 12.01g/mol and that of H is approximately 1.01g/mol. So, you have (0.375g ÷ 12.01g/mol) = 0.031 mol of C and (99.625g ÷ 1.01g/mol) = 98.64 mol of H.

3. Divide each value by the smallest number of moles calculated. In this case, 0.031 mol is the smallest. So, you have (0.031 ÷ 0.031) = 1 mol of C and (98.64 ÷ 0.031) = 3181 mol of H.

4. Round to the nearest whole number. This gives you C1H3181.

5. Therefore, the empirical formula of the compound is C1H3181.