Question

What is the empirical formula of $ F{e_2}O{}_3 $ ?

Answer 1

Hint: We are talking about empirical formulas. We should learn first what an empirical formula is. Empirical formula of a chemical compound is the simplest positive integer ratio of elements or atoms present in a compound. It gives the simple ratio of atoms rather than the total number of atoms present in the compound.

Complete answer:
 $ F{e_2}O{}_3 $ is known as ferric oxide, also stated as Iron (III) oxide because iron is in $ + 3 $ state. It is an inorganic compound, it is one of the three major oxides of Iron remaining two oxides are Ferrous oxide $ FeO $ and Magnetite $ F{e_3}O{}_4 $ or Iron (II) oxide and Iron (II, III) oxide.
Since empirical formula is the simplest positive integer ratio, given compound ferric oxide cannot be reduced to a simpler form and number of atoms cannot be represented as fraction so empirical formula for Ferric oxide will be same as its chemical formula $ F{e_2}O{}_3 $ .

Additional Information:
Ferric oxide is also known as Magnetite. Ferric oxide is used in many applications some of them are
-It is used in paints, coating and ink.
-It is used in plastic and rubber products
-It is used in glass as a UV blocking agent. It is used as a polishing agent for precious metals, diamonds and glass.
-It is also used as a catalyst in manufacturing of other compounds.

Note:
Empirical formula is calculated for those compounds which are formed from the same elements or atoms. there can be any number of different elements in a compound. Empirical formula calculation requires the number of moles of each element present in the compound then every mole value is divided by the smallest value of the number of moles and then values are rounded off to the closest whole number and an empirical formula is obtained.