Answer :
Valence electrons, located in an atom's outermost shell, determine an element's chemical properties and its ability to form chemical bonds.
The valence electrons largely determine the chemical properties of an element and are usually the only electrons used in chemical bonds.
Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost or valence shell (highest value of n) of a ground-state atom. These electrons are the ones that interact most readily with other atoms, influencing the element's chemical reactivity and its ability to form chemical bonds. For instance, in the carbon atom with the electron configuration of 1s²2s²2p², the four valence electrons (2s²2p²) determine how carbon behaves chemically and with which other elements it can form bonds.
The elements in the same group of the periodic table have similar chemical properties because they have the same valence shell electron configuration, while elements in a row show a gradual change in properties as their valence electron configuration gradually varies along the row. Notably, the number of valence electrons directly correlates with an element's 'combining power' or valence.
Final answer:
The valence electrons of an element largely determine its chemical bonding and are usually the only electrons used in chemical reactions.
Explanation:
The valence electrons largely determine the chemical bonding of an element and are usually the only electrons used in chemical reactions.
Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell of an atom, and they are responsible for most of the chemical behavior of elements. Elements with analogous valence electron configurations usually occur within the same group in the periodic table.
For example, in the main group elements, the outermost orbitals are the s and p orbitals, and those are the orbitals where the valence electrons are found. In the transition elements, the outermost orbitals are the d orbitals, and those are the orbitals where the valence electrons are found.
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