How many valence electrons are possessed by an oxygen atom?

1 Answer
anor277
Apr 12, 2017

The oxygen atom has SIX valence electrons...............

Explanation:

...........which means its ions MIGHT have a #-2# electronic charge.

The oxygen ATOM has #Z=8#, i.e. 8 protonic charges. The neutral atom thus must have 8 electronic charges, 2 of which are inner core, and the remaining 6 are valence electrons. It tends to form ions with 8 valence electrons, i.e. #O^(2-)#, tho' other ions are possible.

In elemental oxygen, the stuff we are breathing now, we conceive a structure of #:stackrel(ddot)O=stackrel(ddot)O:#, and of course this is neutral, and the 6 valence electrons are apparent; the 4 electrons which comprise the double bond are conceived to be shared by the bound atoms.

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