To determine the empirical formula of a compound containing 50% of element X and 50% of element Y, we need to find the simplest whole-number ratio of the elements in the compound.
Let's assume we have 100 grams of the compound. Since it contains 50 grams of element X and 50 grams of element Y, we can calculate the number of moles for each element.
Number of moles of X = Mass of X / Atomic mass of X Number of moles of X = 50 g / 10 g/mol Number of moles of X = 5 mol
Number of moles of Y = Mass of Y / Atomic mass of Y Number of moles of Y = 50 g / 20 g/mol Number of moles of Y = 2.5 mol
Now, we need to find the simplest whole-number ratio between X and Y. In this case, we can divide the number of moles by the smallest number of moles (which is 2.5 mol) to obtain the ratio:
Number of moles of X / 2.5 = 5 mol / 2.5 mol = 2 Number of moles of Y / 2.5 = 2.5 mol / 2.5 mol = 1
The ratio of X to Y in the compound is 2:1. Therefore, the empirical formula of the compound is X2Y.