How many different elements are in the products of the following formula? *

3 elements

Explanation:

the elements that we see are

Carbon (C)

Oxygen (O)

Hidrogen (H)

Oxygen (O)

but it says DIFFERENT so we are counting two oxygens that are the same

so we only have

Carbo (C)

Oxygen (O)

Hidrogen (H)

hence there are only three different elements

the old alchemists made significant contributions to science even though there starting premises were off a bit. their conclusions after failure would steer them into better directions for investigation. science is no more than close observation and the initial mistakes result in rethinking and retrying experiments.