How many atoms are present in one unit of sodium sulfate?

Question

How do you figure this out?

My book says,

"How many atoms are present in one unit of sodium sulfate, Na2SO4?"

I'm new to Chemistry, I need help.

Answer 1

Atoms are defined as :

The atom is the smallest unit of an element that retains the chemical properties of that element. An atom has an electron cloud consisting of negatively charged electrons surrounding a dense nucleus. The nucleus contains positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons. When the number of protons in the nucleus equals the number of electrons, the atom is electrically neutral; otherwise it is an ion and has a net positive or negative charge. An atom is classified according to its number of protons and neutrons: the number of protons determines the chemical element and the number of neutrons determines the isotope of that element.

Therefore, the question really is, how many elements are there in the compound...  this can be found with the numbers:

NA2SO4.. .  or 2+4 = 6 atoms.

Answer 2

the answer is 7