Question

In the chemical formula 2so2, how many total atoms of sulfur (s) are there? 1 2 4

Answer 1

Sulfur has the coefficient of 2, and nothing else. This indicates Sulfur has 2 atoms.


Oxygen on the other hand, has a subscript of 2, as well as the coefficient of 2. Multiplying those, and you see Oxygen has 4 atoms.

So your answer is 2

Also remember there is a 2 in front of S meaning there are 2 Sulfurs.
If it was S02 it would be 1 Sulfur as there is no number in front of sulfer.

Remember the number in front of a element, represents how many atoms there are :)