How many atoms of oxygen are in the chemical formula below? Mg3(PO4)2
Understand the Problem
The question is asking how many oxygen atoms are present in the given chemical formula, Mg3(PO4)2. To solve this, we need to analyze the formula and count the oxygen atoms based on the given structure.
Answer
The total number of oxygen atoms is $8$.
Answer for screen readers
The total number of oxygen atoms in the chemical formula ( \text{Mg}_3(\text{PO}_4)_2 ) is ( 8 ).
Steps to Solve
- Identifying the parts of the formula
The chemical formula given is ( \text{Mg}_3(\text{PO}_4)_2 ). We need to break this down into its components to count the oxygen atoms.
- Counting phosphorus and oxygen atoms in the phosphate group
Inside the parentheses, we have ( \text{PO}_4 ). This indicates that there is 1 phosphorus atom and 4 oxygen atoms in each phosphate group.
- Determining the number of phosphate groups
The notation ( (\text{PO}_4)_2 ) tells us that there are 2 phosphate groups in the formula.
- Calculating the total number of oxygen atoms
To find the total number of oxygen atoms, we multiply the number of oxygen atoms in one phosphate group by the number of phosphate groups:
[ \text{Total oxygen atoms} = 4 , (\text{oxygen per }\text{PO}_4) \times 2 , (\text{phosphate groups}) = 8 ]
The total number of oxygen atoms in the chemical formula ( \text{Mg}_3(\text{PO}_4)_2 ) is ( 8 ).
More Information
The compound ( \text{Mg}_3(\text{PO}_4)_2 ) is known as magnesium phosphate. It contains a total of 8 oxygen atoms, sourced from the two phosphate groups.
Tips
- Confusing the number of oxygen atoms in ( \text{PO}_4 ) with the number of phosphate groups. Remember to multiply the oxygen count by the number of groups correctly.
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