Question

How do you find the molecular formula of a compound?

Answer 1

Hint:In order to find the molecular formula of a compound we must first know what a molecular formula is. Molecular formula is said to be a chemical notation which is used to describe the number of elements and type of elements present in a single molecule of a compound.

Complete answer:
Molecular formula is said to be a chemical notation which is used to describe the number of elements and type of elements present in a single molecule of a compound. The constituent element present in the chemical compound will be represented using the chemical symbol. The total number of each element present in the chemical compound is represented as the subscript following the chemical symbol. From the molecular formula, we can get the proportions of the atoms present in the chemical compound. Molecular formula will include the brackets, dashes, plus (+) and minus (-).
In the molecular formula of an organic compound, carbon and hydrogen atoms are first placed followed by other elements. For example: \[{C_2}{H_6}\].
In the molecular formula of an inorganic compound, the cation is placed at first and then the anion. For example: \[NaCl\].
Molecular formulas will not be having any words. It only contains the symbol. The molecular formula in its simplest form is known as the Empirical formula. Empirical formulas can give the ratio of each element present in the compound. If we know the empirical formula of a compound, it will be easier to find the molecular formula using the following relationship.
\[\text{Molecular formula}\] = \[n{\times Empirical formula}\]

Note:
Molecular formula and the empirical formula are not the same. Empirical formula is said to be the simplest formula of the chemical compound. Molecular formula is the ‘n’ times of the empirical formula, where n is some integer multiple.