Complete the statement.
Trichlorofluoromethane is ().
A: a compound
B: an elementary substance
You can tell whether trichlorofluoromethane 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 trichlorofluoromethane, CCl3 F, contains three atomic symbols: C for carbon, Cl for chlorine, and F for fluorine. So, the formula tells you that trichlorofluoromethane is composed of three chemical elements bonded together.
Since trichlorofluoromethane is composed of multiple chemical elements bonded together, trichlorofluoromethane is a compound.