The empirical formula of a compound is the simplest formula which shows the ratio of the number of atoms of each element present in a compound.

The empirical formula of a compound is determined using the following procedures;

• Quantitative and quanlitative analysis is carried out and the masses or percentage composition by mass of each element is obtained.
• The mass or percentage composition by mass of each element is divided by its relative atomic mas to give the number of moles. This gives the ratio of atom.
• The value obtained in (II) above are corrected to the nearest whole number by dividing by the smallest number and approximating to the nearest whole number.