Chemical Bonding: Valence Electrons

Oxygen Lewis Structure

To be successful in chemistry you must be able to find the number of valence electrons for individual elements.

A few things to note:

  • On the periodic table Groups go up and down (they are the columns).
  • The Group Number represents the number of valence electrons. The problem is that different periodic tables often use different numbering systems (see video for explanation).
  • We’ll ignore the transition metals. They have valence electrons but the pattern is not as easily predicted as the other groups.

Video: Finding Valence Electrons on the Periodic Table



Video: Finding the Number of Valence Electrons for a Molecule