What Are Valence Electrons And How To Find Them?

Valence electrons are the electrons that are located in the outermost shell of an atom. In other words, these are the electrons that can be gained or lost during a chemical reaction.

In order to determine the number of valence electrons of an element, we only have to refer to the periodic table and search for the position of the element in it. The table contains 18 columns in total, formally known as groups, as well as rows, formally known as periods. There are 7 rows in the subtable above and 2 rows distinguishing the rarer elements below. The transition elements form a bridge or perpetuate the transition between the elements in Groups 2 and 13. When we go down a group, the number of valence electrons remains the same, although the number of shells increases.