A binary compound is composed of exactly how many elements?

A binary compound is composed of exactly how many elements?

• A. One
• B. Two
• C. Three
• D. Four

Answer: (B)

Binary compounds are defined by containing two different elements. The term “binary” signals two distinct elements to combine, not the total number of atoms in a molecule. For example, water is made from hydrogen and oxygen, so it’s a binary compound even though a single water molecule has three atoms in total. If a substance had three different elements, it would be a ternary compound, and if it were just one element, it wouldn’t be a compound at all. So, a binary compound is composed of two elements.

Binary compounds are defined by containing two different elements. The term “binary” signals two distinct elements to combine, not the total number of atoms in a molecule. For example, water is made from hydrogen and oxygen, so it’s a binary compound even though a single water molecule has three atoms in total. If a substance had three different elements, it would be a ternary compound, and if it were just one element, it wouldn’t be a compound at all. So, a binary compound is composed of two elements.