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it is meant to distinguish the number of polyatomic ions from the number of atoms in a given polyatomic ion. an example is Ca(NO3)2

In a chemical compound, parenthesis are used to distinguish the number of polyatomic ions from the number of atoms. Such as in the compound calcium nitrate, it is written as \(Ca(NO_{3} ) _{2}\). This means there are two nitrate ions for every one calcium ion.

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