An oxide of iodine ( I =127) contains 25.4g of iodine and 8g of oxygen. Its formula could be

Options

A. `I_(2) O_(3)`
B. `I_(2)O`
C. `I_(2)O_(5)`
D. `I_(2)O_(9)`

Explanation

To determine the formula of the iodine oxide given the masses of iodine and oxygen, we will follow these steps:

### Step 1: Calculate the number of moles of iodine (I)
- Given mass of iodine = 25.4 g
- Molar mass of iodine (I) = 127 g/mol

Using the formula for moles:
\[ \text{Moles of I} = \frac{\text{mass}}{\text{molar mass}} = \frac{25.4 \text{ g}}{127 \text{ g/mol}} \approx 0.2 \text{ moles} \]

### Step 2: Calculate the number of moles of oxygen (O)
- Given mass of oxygen = 8 g
- Molar mass of oxygen (O) = 16 g/mol

Using the formula for moles:
\[ \text{Moles of O} = \frac{\text{mass}}{\text{molar mass}} = \frac{8 \text{ g}}{16 \text{ g/mol}} = 0.5 \text{ moles} \]

### Step 3: Determine the simplest mole ratio
Now we have:
- Moles of I = 0.2
- Moles of O = 0.5

To find the simplest ratio, we divide both by the smallest number of moles:
\[ \text{Ratio of I} = \frac{0.2}{0.2} = 1 \]
\[ \text{Ratio of O} = \frac{0.5}{0.2} = 2.5 \]

### Step 4: Convert to whole numbers
The ratio of I to O is 1:2.5. To convert this to whole numbers, we can multiply both parts of the ratio by 2:
\[ \text{I} : \text{O} = 1 \times 2 : 2.5 \times 2 = 2 : 5 \]

### Step 5: Write the empirical formula
From the mole ratio, we can write the empirical formula of the iodine oxide:
\[ \text{Formula} = \text{I}_2\text{O}_5 \]

### Conclusion
The possible formula of the iodine oxide is \( \text{I}_2\text{O}_5 \).