(Reading Chemical Formulas Remediation)

A chemical formula is a way of expressing the composition of a chemical compound using symbols for the elements and numbers to indicate the quantity of each element.

To count the total number of atoms, add up all the subscripts in the formula. If an element has no subscript, it is assumed to have a subscript of 1.

The subscript indicates the number of atoms of the element present in the compound. For example, in H2O, the '2' means there are 2 hydrogen atoms.

14

1

7

2

2

Chemical formulas provide essential information about the composition and structure of compounds, which is crucial for understanding chemical reactions.

A molecular formula shows the actual number of atoms of each element in a molecule, while an empirical formula shows the simplest whole-number ratio of the elements.