What are some examples of valence electrons?

1 Answer
BRIAN M. · Media Owl
Apr 22, 2014

The valence electrons are the electrons that determine the most typical bonding patterns for an element.

These electrons are found in the s and p orbitals of the highest energy level (row of the periodic table) for the element.

Using the electron configuration for each element we can determine the valence electrons.

Na - Sodium #1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1#
Sodium has 1 valence electron from the 3s orbital

P - Phosphorus #1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^3#
Phosphorus has 5 valence electrons 2 from the 3s and 3 from the 3p

Fe - Iron #1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^6#
Iron has 2 valence electrons from the 4s

Br - Bromine #1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^5#
Bromine has 7 valence electrons 2 from the 4s and 5 from the 4p
you can count the electrons in the outermost shell

I hope this was helpful.
SMARTERTEACHER

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