To determine the number of valence electrons from the given electron configuration, we need to identify the electrons in the outermost shell. Let's break down the electron configuration step-by-step:
The given electron configuration is:
[tex]$
1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^4
$[/tex]
1. The first step is recognizing the principal quantum number, which tells us the shell number. Here, we have electrons in three shells: [tex]\(n=1\)[/tex], [tex]\(n=2\)[/tex], and [tex]\(n=3\)[/tex].
2. The valence electrons are those found in the outermost shell, which is the shell with the highest principal quantum number.
3. In this case, the outermost shell is the [tex]\(n=3\)[/tex] shell.
The electron distribution in this shell is given by:
[tex]$
3s^2 3p^4
$[/tex]
4. To find the total number of valence electrons, we add the electrons present in the [tex]\(3s\)[/tex] and [tex]\(3p\)[/tex] orbitals:
- [tex]\(3s\)[/tex] holds 2 electrons.
- [tex]\(3p\)[/tex] holds 4 electrons.
So, we add these to get the total number of valence electrons:
[tex]$
2 + 4 = 6
$[/tex]
Thus, the number of valence electrons for the electron configuration [tex]\(1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^4\)[/tex] is [tex]\(6\)[/tex].
