What part of the chemical formula indicates the number of molecules or atoms involved?

1 Answer
Krishna V. · Ernest Z.
May 25, 2017

The subscript indicates the number of molecules/atoms in a formula.

Explanation:

For example, in #CO_2#, the 2 means there are 2 Oxygen atoms (#O#) in one molecule of the compound.

If a formula says #(NH_4)_2SO_4# or has similar parentheses, the subscript outside of the parentheses is how many of that part is in the compound (in this case - 2 #NH_4# ions).

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