Tartaric acid, a naturally occurring organic acid found in various plants, particularly in grapes, is known for its role in winemaking. The molecular formula of tartaric acid is C4H6O6. To determine the empirical formula, which represents the simplest whole number ratio of the elements in a compound, we need to divide the number of atoms of each element by the greatest common divisor.
For tartaric acid, we have:
- Carbon (C): 4
- Hydrogen (H): 6
- Oxygen (O): 6
The greatest common divisor for 4, 6, and 6 is 2. Therefore, we can divide the number of each type of atom by 2:
- C: 4 ÷ 2 = 2
- H: 6 ÷ 2 = 3
- O: 6 ÷ 2 = 3
This gives us the empirical formula for tartaric acid as C2H3O3. Understanding the empirical formula helps in various applications, such as stoichiometric calculations in chemistry, where knowing the simplest ratio of elements is crucial.