A chemical formula that shows the number and kinds of atoms in a molecule, but not the arrangement of the atoms is called

• A. Chemical Formula
• B. Molecule
• C. Bond Energy
• D. Molecular Formula

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how a formula represents a substance without showing its structure. A molecular formula gives the exact number and kinds of atoms in a molecule, but it does not indicate how those atoms are connected or arranged in space. For example, water has the molecular formula H2O, which tells you there are two hydrogens and one oxygen present, but it doesn’t specify the bent shape or which atoms bond to which. This is precisely what the term molecular formula conveys: the actual counts of each element in the molecule, without detailing the arrangement. The other terms don’t fit this description: the term for the actual molecule is not a formula, bond energy concerns the energy to break bonds, and a general chemical formula can be ambiguous between empirical and molecular ways of counting atoms.