Valence Electrons

Name: ____________________________Class ____Date_______

The valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost energy level. They are always the
outermost electrons. Remember to take the Atomic Number and subtract the electrons from each
shell, (2 for the 1st shell and 8 for the 2nd shell), this will give you the remaining electrons which will
be the valence electrons.

Determine the element’s number of valence electrons (# of electrons in the “outermost” shell).

Example: Carbon has 4 valence electrons, carbon__4__

1. fluorine _____ 11. lithium _____

2. phosphorus _____ 12. zinc _____

3. calcium _____ 13. carbon _____

4. nitrogen _____ 14. iodine _____

5. iron _____ 15. oxygen _____

6. argon _____ 16. barium _____

7. potassium _____ 17. aluminum _____

8. helium _____ 18. hydrogen _____

9. magnesium _____ 19. xenon _____

10. sulfur _____ 20. copper _____

1. What are valence electrons used for by an element?

2. How many of valence electrons do the elements in column 4 have? Are these elements very reactive?
Explain your answer.

3. When we look at the periodic table of elements, the elements in a ___________________ have the same
number of valence electrons.