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An atom with a closed shell of valence electrons (corresponding to a noble gas configuration) tends to be chemically inert. Atoms with one or two valence electrons more than a closed shell are highly reactive due to the relatively low energy to remove the extra valence electrons to form a positive ion. An atom with one or two electrons fewer ...
Here [Ne] refers to the core electrons which are the same as for the element neon (Ne), the last noble gas before phosphorus in the periodic table. The valence electrons (here 3s 2 3p 3) are written explicitly for all atoms. Electron configurations of elements beyond hassium (element 108) have never been measured; predictions are used below.
Magnesium is a chemical element; it has symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic table) it occurs naturally only in combination with other elements and almost always has an oxidation state of +2.
Since metals can display multiple oxidation numbers, the exact definition of how many "valence electrons" an element should have in elemental form is somewhat arbitrary, but the following table lists the free electron densities given in Ashcroft and Mermin, which were calculated using the formula above based on reasonable assumptions about ...
The 4s and 3d subshells have approximately the same energy and they compete for filling the electrons, and so the occupation is not quite consistently filling the 3d orbitals one at a time. The precise energy ordering of 3d and 4s changes along the row, and also changes depending on how many electrons are removed from the atom.
Together with helium, these elements have in common an outer s orbital which is full [2] [3] [4] —that is, this orbital contains its full complement of two electrons, which the alkaline earth metals readily lose to form cations with charge +2, and an oxidation state of +2. [5]
It now has 8 total valence electrons, which obeys the octet rule. CH 4, for the central C; neutral counting: C contributes 4 electrons, each H radical contributes one each: 4 + 4 × 1 = 8 valence electrons ionic counting: C 4− contributes 8 electrons, each proton contributes 0 each: 8 + 4 × 0 = 8 electrons. Similar for H:
However, chlorine can also have oxidation states from +1 to +7 and can form more than one bond by donating valence electrons. Hydrogen has only one valence electron, but it can form bonds with more than one atom. In the bifluoride ion ([HF 2] −), for example, it forms a three-center four-electron bond with two fluoride atoms: [F−H F − ↔ ...