Outline and discuss the procedural steps used to determine the atomic weight of an element based on the mass and relative amount as found by the mass spectrometer. Work through each step in the process to finally arrive at the listed answer. introduce topic 1.3, determination of the empirical formula of a compound based upon the determination of moles of each element present in the compound. The information required depends on the spectral % found in each atom, conversion to grams and then to moles.Mathematically determine the mole ratios, convert to whole numbers and arrive at the empirical formula.