Question #59866

2 Answers
Michael
Oct 20, 2014

There are no atoms in #CO_2#.

#CO_2# is a molecule which is a gas at room temperature. It can be thought of as being originally formed from an atom of carbon and 2 atoms of oxygen.

Meave60
Nov 20, 2014

There are three atoms in one molecule of carbon dioxide (#"CO"_2#), one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. The carbon atom and two oxygen atoms share electrons by covalent bonding in order to achieve an octet of electrons in their valence shells.

The following is a structural formula of a molecule of carbon dioxide.

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