[Yello_Phoenix]

Hi, I am taking a physics course in college and this was a homework question, it seems very easy on the surface, but not being in chemistry I don't understand some fundamentals.

A "nitride" contains nitrogen only, "nitrite" contains NO2- and "nitrate" contains NO3-. Write the chemical formulas for the following and provide the names of the compounds, using the data given:

# of Mg atoms     # of N, NO2- or NO3-
3                          2N
1                       2 NO2-
1                        2 NO3-
I am a bit lost with the 3Mg2N part, would 2N be the same as N(subscript)2?
if anyone can offer a bit of advice would be greatly appreciated,

[sjb]

I am a bit lost with the 3Mg2N part, would 2N be the same as N(subscript)2?

Yes, it would (in this case)