Complete the statement.
Phosphorus trichloride is ().
A: a compound
B: an elementary substance
You can tell whether phosphorus trichloride is an elementary substance or a compound by counting the number of atomic symbols in its chemical formula. An atomic symbol consists of either one capital letter or a capital letter followed by one or two lowercase letters.
The chemical formula for phosphorus trichloride, PCl3, contains two atomic symbols: P for phosphorus and Cl for chlorine. So, the formula tells you that phosphorus trichloride is composed of two chemical elements bonded together.
Since phosphorus trichloride is composed of multiple chemical elements bonded together, phosphorus trichloride is a compound.