Video Transcript
Which of the following chemical
formulas shows a compound that is made up of three different elements? (A) SO3, (B) NH3, (C) NaCl, (D)
H2O, or (E) CaSO4.
A chemical formula is an expression
consisting of chemical symbols and numerical subscripts that represents the
composition of a molecule or one unit of a compound. A chemical symbol is either a
capital letter or a capital letter followed by a lowercase letter. So, S and O in SO3 are chemical
symbols. They represent chemical
elements. Symbols S and O represent elements
sulfur and oxygen. Therefore, SO3 is a compound made
up of two different elements. NH3, NaCl, and H2O are also made up
of two different elements. CaSO4 contains three different
elements: calcium, sulfur, and oxygen.
Therefore, the answer to the
question “Which of the following chemical formulas shows a compound that is made up
of three different elements?” is (E) CaSO4.
