Question

How do I find how many hydrogen atoms are in Ca(CH3CO2)2?

Answer 1

There are 2 hydrogen atoms in this molecule. You have to count up all the H atoms and thats how you find out.

Answer 2

the formula is like math, you follow the distributive property

\(\sf \large \color{red}2(2x+3y)=4x+6y\)

if we were to ignore the charges (to keep it simple) and focus on the bracket, we can see it follows the same pattern

\(\sf\large (CH_3CO_2)_{\color{red}2}\rightarrow C_2H_6C_2O_4\)

structurally, the formula above makes no sense, but you can also draw it to count the atoms.