Question

What does a subscript indicate in a chemical formula?

Answer 1

Chemical formulas are used to describe the types of atoms and their numbers in an element or compound. The atoms of each element are represented by one or two different letters. When more than one atom of a specific element is found in a molecule, a subscript is used to indicate this in the chemical formula.

Answer 2

Explanation:

A subscript is a number that is placed below an alphabet on the bottom right side.

For example, for $H_{2}$ molecule 2 is the subscript.

A subscript indicates the number of atoms present in a substance or molecule.

For example, in $H_{2}SO_{4}$ the subscripts indicate that there are two hydrogen atoms, one sulfur atom, and four oxygen atoms.