Final answer:
To determine the number of atoms and elements, count the instances of each element and their respective quantities listed in the compound's chemical formula.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the number of atoms and elements in a chemical formula, you follow a straightforward process:
Observe the chemical formula of the compound, which lists the elements and the number of atoms for each.
Count the individual atoms listed and note their respective elements.
The total count of atoms gives you the number of atoms, and counting the unique element symbols gives you the number of elements.
For example, let's consider a compound with a molecular formula of C2H6O. We see two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom, totaling nine atoms. Here, there are three elements involved: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Using the prefixes from chemistry nomenclature, for a compound with four atoms of an element, the prefix is 'tetra-', and for seven atoms, it is 'hepta-'.
It's important to know that the molecular formula represents a molecule's composition by showing the number of atoms of each type contained in the molecule.
The total count of individual atoms gives the number of atoms, while the count of unique element symbols indicates the number of elements.