Question

Suppose there are two known compounds containing generic X and Y. You have a 1.00g sample of each compound. One sample contains .34g of X and the other contains .44g of X. Identify plausible sets of formulas for the two compounds

Answer 1

I've started it by taking 1.00g-.34=.66g Y (Sample 1)
and 1.00g-.44g=.56g Y (Sample 2)
I've been given sets of answers such as
X2Y3 and X3Y3
XY3 and XY4
and a few more. How can I determine what subscripts would work?

Answer 2

I'm not positive this is correct, but this is what I came up with:
the amount of moles of each element (X1/X2 or Y1/Y2) should be related when you divide them; with this ratio, you can multiply by a number and use the numbers that are closest to whole numbers (as in the real world, measuring the weight will always be slightly off). For example, if I had 24gC and 36gC and I divided them (24/36), I get 0.666...; multiplying by 1 or 2 doesn't give a whole number, but multiplying by 3 yields 2, showing the molar ratio to be 2:3 (as you could clearly see in the above example with C as 12g/mol). So, with all of that said, it was easiest to throw the numbers into excel and have it calculate numbers and the closest one to whole numbers with viable ratios:
X=7,9.059 Y=7.072,6\[X_7Y_7 and X_9Y_6\]which, reduced gives\[XY\]and\[X_3Y_2\]

Answer 3

I figured it out after I got it wrong a couple of times.
I had to find x/y for both samples.
Then put (Solution 1 x/y)/ (Solution 2 x/y)
After that I had to take the subscripts of the first set of values in the given answers find the ratio and put it over the x y ratio for the second formula.

All in all I think it was a silly question that cost me a few points.
Thank you for replying!

Answer 4

Can you explain what you were doing wrong?

Answer 5

Sadly no. It was so long ago I no longer remember. I had trouble following what I wrote and don't even understand what I was saying. Sorry.