The correct way of presenting the given molecule is CH₄, with the number subscripted.
The subscripted numbers indicates how many of the previous element are in the molecule.
If there are no subscripted number after a given element, it means it is a implicit 1.
So, in CH₄, there is no number after C, so it is implicit it is a 1, and after the H there are a 4. This means that we have 1 C atom and 4 H atoms.
C is carbon and H is hydrogen, so:
A molecule of CH₄ consists of 1 carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms.
