The reason you might think it doesn't is because sodium sulfate is an ionic compound, not a molecular compound.

Here's the breakdown:

* Ionic Compounds: Formed by the electrostatic attraction between positively charged ions (cations) and negatively charged ions (anions). They don't exist as discrete molecules but rather as a repeating, three-dimensional lattice structure.

* Molecular Compounds: Formed by the sharing of electrons between atoms. They exist as distinct molecules with a specific number of atoms bonded together.

Since sodium sulfate is ionic, it doesn't have a single, distinct molecule like water (H₂O) or methane (CH₄). Instead, it has a repeating unit of Na⁺ and SO₄²⁻ ions in a fixed ratio.

Therefore, Na₂SO₄ represents the empirical formula of sodium sulfate, indicating the simplest whole-number ratio of ions present in the compound.