Complete the statement.
Benzene is ().
A: an elementary substance
B: a compound
You can tell whether benzene is an elementary substance or a compound by counting the number of symbols in its chemical formula. A symbol contains either one capital letter or a capital letter followed by one or two lowercase letters.
The chemical formula for benzene is C6 H6. This formula contains two symbols: C for carbon and H for hydrogen. So, the formula tells you that benzene is made of two chemical elements bonded together.
Substances made of two or more chemical elements bonded together are compounds. So, benzene is a compound.