ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Atomic formula

Imagine that you have some little tiny building blocks called atoms. These atoms are like the smallest things that make up everything around us. Now, just like how you can make different shapes with your building blocks, you can also make different things with atoms.

An atomic formula is like a recipe for how to make something out of atoms. It tells you what types of atoms you need and how many of each. It's kind of like a shopping list for building something.

For example, let's say we want to make water. The atomic formula for water would be H2O. This means we need 2 hydrogen atoms (represented by the "H") and 1 oxygen atom (represented by the "O") to make water.

Atomic formulas are really important because they help us understand how things are made up at the smallest level. They also help us predict how different atoms will react with each other, which is really useful when we're trying to make new things.