Chemical formulas use what to tell how many atoms of that element are in one unit of that compound?

Answer 1

This is done by inserting a subscript immediately after the symbol for that element, as in #H_2O#.

If an element's symbol is followed by no subscript, you should assume that the formula contains a single atom of that type; if multiple atoms are present, a subscript will be added after the element, and it will only apply to the element that comes right before it.

For example #CO_2# means that in every molecule of carbon dioxide we would find exactly one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.

When a group of atoms—like a polyatomic ion—appear more than once in a single molecule, brackets are utilized.

Example: #(NH_4)_2SO_4# This formula tells us there are two ammonium ions #(NH_4^+)# in the compound, as well as one sulfutr atom and four oxygen atoms. It is useful to use the brackets in this way as it helps to identify the nature of the compound (ionic in this case).

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Answer 2

Noah Aldrich

Chemical formulas use subscripts to tell how many atoms of that element are in one unit of that compound.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.