Video Transcript
A series of particles were placed
into five separate boxes. Which box contains molecules of a
compound?
We’ve been given five images
labeled from (A) to (E). And we can assume that each circle
of a different color represents an atom of a different element. The question tells us that the
boxes contain particles. So, we know that all of the species
shown are particles. However, the question asks which
box contains molecules of a compound.
A molecule is a substance composed
of two or more atoms bonded together. These atoms may be the same or
different. Not all particles are
molecules. A single atom, for example, is not
a molecule. Since box (A) exclusively contains
atoms, which are not molecules, we can determine that option (A) is not the answer
to this question.
We can see that the other answer
choices contain at least some molecules. But the question specifies
molecules of a compound, where a compound is a substance that contains the atoms of
two or more different elements. So, although boxes (B), (D), and
(E) contain molecules, these molecules are not compounds, since they only contain
one type of element. Thus, answer choices (B), (D), and
(E) are incorrect.
The molecules in box (C), however,
contain atoms from two different elements. This means that box (C) contains
molecules of a compound. Thus, the box which contains
molecules of a compound is box (C).
