Question

What are the empirical and molecular formulas of benzene?

Answer 1

Hint: The difference between the molecular formula and the empirical formula is that the actual formula of the compound is molecular but the simplest form of the molecular formula is known as the empirical formula. Benzene is an organic compound in which two elements are present, i.e., a carbon atom and a hydrogen atom.

Complete answer:
The expression that shows the number and types of elements of a compound is known as the formula of the compound. There are two types of formulas for a compound, i.e., molecular formula and empirical formula. The difference between the molecular formula and the empirical formula is that the actual formula of the compound is molecular but the simplest form of the molecular formula is known as the empirical formula. And in the empirical formula, the simplest number should be the whole number.
So, the given compound is benzene and benzene is an organic compound in which two elements are present, i.e., a carbon atom and a hydrogen atom. We know that in the actual formula of benzene there are 6 atoms of carbon and 6 atoms of hydrogen are present. So, the molecular formula of benzene is ${{C}_{6}}{{H}_{6}}$.
So, both the atoms are in a ratio of 6: 6, and both are divisible by six to get the lowest whole number. The ratio will be 1: 1, so the formula is CH. Hence, the Empirical formula of benzene is CH.

Note:
The relation between the molecular formula and empirical formula can be written as:
Molecular formula = n x empirical formula
Where n is an integer. For benzene, the value of n is 6.