An organic compound contains carbon , hydrogen and oxygen. Its elemental analysis gave C, 38.71% and H, 9.67%. The empirical formula of the compound would be

The correct option is CH₃O.

To find the empirical formula of the compound, we can calculate the ratio of the number of atoms of each element present in it step-by-step:

Step 1: Calculate the percentage of Oxygen (O)
Since the organic compound contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the sum of their percentages must equal 100%.
Percentage of Carbon (C) = 38.71%
Percentage of Hydrogen (H) = 9.67%
We find the percentage of Oxygen as follows:
$\text{Percentage of O}=100-(38.71+9.67)=100-48.38=51.62\%$

Step 2: Calculate the relative number of moles of each element
We divide the percentage of each element by its respective atomic mass (C = 12 g/mol, H = 1 g/mol, O = 16 g/mol):
$\text{Relative moles of C}=\frac{38.71}{12}\approx 3.225$
$\text{Relative moles of H}=\frac{9.67}{1}=9.67$
$\text{Relative moles of O}=\frac{51.62}{16}\approx 3.226$

Step 3: Determine the simplest atomic ratio
Divide each of the values obtained in Step 2 by the smallest value among them, which is approximately 3.225:
$\text{Ratio of C}=\frac{3.225}{3.225}=1$
$\text{Ratio of H}=\frac{9.67}{3.225}\approx 3$
$\text{Ratio of O}=\frac{3.226}{3.225}\approx 1$

The simplest whole number ratio of C : H : O is 1 : 3 : 1. Thus, the empirical formula of the compound is CH₃O.