Question 20

There are 4 oxygen atoms in 2O₂.

In the chemical formula 2O₂, the subscript indicates that each molecule of O₂ contains 2 oxygen atoms. Since there are 2 molecules of O₂, the total number of oxygen atoms is 2 multiplied by 2, which equals 4.

A) 2

This option is incorrect because it suggests that there are only 2 oxygen atoms in 2O₂. However, 2O₂ consists of 2 molecules of O₂, each containing 2 oxygen atoms, leading to a total of 4 oxygen atoms.

B) 4

This option is correct. The formula 2O₂ means there are 2 molecules of O₂, and since each O₂ molecule has 2 oxygen atoms, the total number of oxygen atoms is 2 x 2 = 4.

C) 1

This option is incorrect because it implies that there is only 1 oxygen atom in 2O₂. The formula indicates multiple molecules, and thus, the count of oxygen atoms is significantly higher than just 1.

Conclusion

The answer is definitively 4, as derived from the multiplication of the number of molecules and the number of oxygen atoms per molecule in the formula. All other options fail to account for the correct multiplication, leading to an inaccurate count of oxygen atoms.