Question: Can the empirical and molecular formulas for a compound be the same?
Answer:
The molecular formula of a compound is simply a list of the number of atoms of each element present in the compound. For example, C12H22O11 has 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, and 11 oxygen atoms. Empirical formulas are reduced molecular formulas and tell you the ratios of the atoms to each other. For example, the empirical formula of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, is HO, which is found by reducing the subscripts.
For some molecules, the molecular formula can't be reduced. For example, water has the molecular formula H2O, which means that there are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Because you can't reduce it, the empirical formula is also H2O, which means that there are two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom.