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Which is the term for numbers that appear in the chemical formulas of some compounds?

a. Coefficients
b. Subscripts
c. Square roots
d. Exponents

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

The term for numbers that appear in the chemical formulas of compounds is 'subscripts,' which indicate the number of atoms of each element in a molecule, while 'coefficients' are used in chemical equations to denote the number of molecules or moles of substances involved in the reaction.

Step-by-step explanation:

The term for numbers that appear in the chemical formulas of some compounds are subscripts. Subscripts are used to indicate the number of atoms of an element present in a molecule.

For instance, in the compound carbon dioxide, the formula is CO₂, where the '2' is a subscript representing two atoms of oxygen. In contrast, coefficients are numbers placed in front of the formulas to show how many molecules or moles of a substance are involved in a reaction.

Unlike subscripts, coefficients can be changed to balance a chemical equation, while subscripts are fixed parts of the chemical formulas and cannot be altered without changing the identity of the substance.

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