The chemical symbol for sulfuric acid is H2SO4. How many atoms are contained in each molecule of sulfuric acid?

a. 3

c. 6

b. 5

d. 7

For the answer to the question above, You know from looking at the molecular formula that one molecule of H2SO4 contains 2 atoms of hydrogen, 1 atom of sulfur and 4 atoms of oxygen. So the answer is the last one. D. 7

A subscript of an atom is the number of that specific atom contained in a molecule. The atomic symbol without a subscript number means there is only one of that atom in each molecule. In H2SO4, there are 2 H (hydrogen) atoms, 1 S (Sulfur) atom, and 4 O (oxygen) atoms in the molecule of H2SO4. Add the number of each atom and you get 7 atoms in total.