Where are the valence electrons in an atom?

In chemistry, valence electrons are the electrons that are located in the outermost electron shell of an element. read more

To find valence electrons using a period table, first see if your atom is a transitional metal, which are the elements in the middle rectangle of the table. If the atom is outside this block, locate its group number along the top of the table. The ones digit in the group number is the number of valence electrons. read more

A pair of oxygen atoms can form an O 2 molecule in which each atom has a total of eight valence electrons by sharing two pairs of electrons. The term covalent bond is used to describe the bonds in compounds that result from the sharing of one or more pairs of electrons. read more

Valence electrons are the electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom. You can easily determine the number of valence electrons an atom can have by looking at its Group in the periodic table. For example, atoms in Groups 1 and 2 have 1 and 2 valence electrons, respectively. read more