Which term refers to a chemical formula that shows the number and kinds of atoms in a molecule, but not the arrangement?

• A. Chemical Formula
• B. Molecular Formula
• C. Bond Energy
• D. Electron-Dot Notation

Answer: (B)

The idea here is about what a chemical formula communicates about a molecule’s composition. A molecular formula tells you exactly how many of each type of atom are present in a single molecule, but it does not reveal how those atoms are connected or arranged in space. For example, water is H2O, showing two hydrogens and one oxygen, but it doesn’t show the bonding pattern or geometry of the molecule. That kind of arrangement is shown by structural formulas or Lewis dot structures, not by the molecular formula alone.

In contrast, an empirical formula would only show the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms, which might be the same as the molecular formula for some compounds but not for all. Bond energy is about the energy required to break bonds, not the count of atoms, and electron-dot notation focuses on valence electrons and bonding rather than the full atom counts in a molecule.