You can tell whether neon is an elementary substance or a compound by counting the number of symbols in its chemical formula. A symbol contains either one capital letter or a capital letter followed by one or two lowercase letters.
The chemical formula for neon is Ne. This formula contains one symbol: Ne. So, the formula tells you that neon is made of one chemical element.
Substances made of only one chemical element are elementary substances. So, neon is an elementary substance.
Complete the statement.
Neon is ().
A: a compound
B: an elementary substance