Question

Which term is ${C_4}{H_{10}}$ an example of?
A.Molar mass
B.Avogadro’s number
C.Empirical formula
D.Molecular formula

Answer 1

Hint: It is important to determine the composition of a compound through various chemical formulas and quantities used to calculate the number of atoms present in a compound. We know that Avogadro’s number is a constant value and empirical formula is the simplest ratio whereas molar mass gives us the mass of 1 mole and molecular formula tells us the number of atoms of each element.

Complete step by step answer:
A compound is measured in various ways. To understand the extent, feasibility and applications of a compound it is important to determine the concentration and composition of the atoms present in a compound. The concentration can be measured quantitatively as well as qualitatively. But to measure the concentration of a compound we need to understand the compound and the atoms present in the compound.
Molar mass is an important quantity of a compound which gives us the mass of 1 gram of 1 mole of a substance. It is calculated as $M = \dfrac{m}{n}$ where, $M$ is molar mass of the substance and $\dfrac{m}{n}$ is the ratio of mass of the substance and number of moles. The mass of the compound can be calculated by the sum of molar masses of all the atoms present. Another important quantity is the Avogadro’s number which gives us the number of units present in 1 mole of the substance. This unit may refer to an electron, atom, ions or molecules and this depends on the nature of the substance. It has a constant value which is ${N_A} = 6.022 \times {10^{23}}$ .
The empirical formula of a compound is the simplest whole number ratio which determines the different atoms or constituents used in a compound. The empirical formula helps to determine the composition of a compound. The empirical formula of ${C_6}{H_{12}}{O_6}$ will be $C{H_2}O$ .
Another important chemical formula is the molecular formula. It contains the chemical symbols of all the elements present in a compound with the number of atoms as their subscripts. It determines the exact number of atoms in a molecule.

Thus, for the above question we conclude from the above definitions that ${C_4}{H_{10}}$ is an example of molecular formula and the correct option is (D).

Note:
A chemical formula describes the way of determining the chemical composition of an atom in a compound. The chemical proportions of various atoms present in a compound determine the chemical proportion of the compound itself. This can be determined by using the chemical symbols of a compound. There are three types of chemical formulas- empirical, molecular and structural formula.