Explain how the formulas for H2O and NaCl provide different information about the composition of these two compounds.
What I think:
For every 1 atom of oxygen, there are 2 atoms of hydrogen. For every one atom of sodium there is one atom of chlorine.
If the problem means by "information" composition then what you have written is ok. I might make it clear that this is for the empirical formula shown; i.e., one molecule.
You are correct in noting that the formulas for H2O and NaCl provide different information about the composition of these two compounds.
The formula H2O represents water, also known as dihydrogen monoxide. It tells us that a water molecule contains two atoms of hydrogen (H) and one atom of oxygen (O). The subscript 2 indicates that there are two hydrogen atoms present in each molecule. Therefore, the information derived from the formula H2O is the ratio of elements in the compound, which is 2:1 for hydrogen to oxygen.
On the other hand, the formula NaCl represents sodium chloride, which is commonly known as table salt. It tells us that a sodium chloride molecule consists of one atom of sodium (Na) and one atom of chlorine (Cl). In this case, there are no subscripts, which means there is only one atom of each element in each molecule. The information provided by the formula NaCl is the presence of both sodium and chlorine atoms in equal quantities.
Therefore, while the formula H2O indicates the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in water, the formula NaCl simply indicates the presence of equal quantities of sodium and chlorine atoms in sodium chloride.