Question

The most common form of nylon (nylon-6) is 63.68% carbon, 12.38% nitrogen, 9.80% hydrogen,and 14.14% oxygen. Calculate the empirical formula for nylon-6.

Short answer

The empirical formula of nylon-6 is $C_6{H}_{11}NO$.

Step-by-step solution

Given Information

When there are 100 g of nylon 6 and 63.68 g of C, 12.38 g of N, 14.14 of O and 9.8 g of H.

Determination of mole of each element

It can be determined as the mole of each element,

$\begin{array}{rcl}C:63.68g\times \frac{1mol}{12.01g}& =& 5.302mol\\ N:12.38g\times \frac{1mol}{14.01g}& =& 0.884mol\\ H:9.08g\times \frac{1mol}{1.01g}& =& 9.703mol\\ O:14.14g\times \frac{1mol}{16g}& =& 0.884mol\end{array}$

Division of all the moles to get empirical formula

On dividing the moles,

$$\begin{gathered} C:5.998mol\approx 6mol \\ N:1mol \\ H:1.976mol\approx 11mol \\ O:1mol \end{gathered}$$

The empirical formula of nylon-6 is$C_6{H}_{11}NO$