You start by finding the mol of each
59.9g C x (mol C / 12.01 g C) = 4.98 mol C
8.06g H x (mol H / 1.00 g H) = 8.06 mol H
32.0 g O x (mol O / 16.0 g O) = 2 mol O
So when you set it up you have
C4.98 H8 O2
You divide each by the smallest mol. The smallest mol is 2
C2 H4 O2.5
However you can’t have half a mol in the empirical formula. If the value ends in 0.5, you multiply everything by 2
You’re left with
C2H8O5
The EMPIRICAL formula for lucite is C2H8O5
Note empirical is not the same as chemical formula.
