Number Of Electrons In Oxygen

30-04-2021
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Answer 1:


The Periodic Table of elements can tell you a lot about the elements. Oxygen with the symbol O has the atomic number 8 which means it is the 8th element in the table. The number eight also means that oxygen has eight protons in the nucleus.

The number of protons and the number of electrons are always the same in an element that is neutral and has no charge. Therefore oxygen has 8 electrons.

Oxygen atom has 8 electrons with 2 in its inner shell (K-shell) and 6 in its outer or valence shell (L-shell). It follows octet rule and so, to be stable tries to gain electronic configuration of nearest inert gas i.e. 8 electrons in its valence shell (this is same for atoms of all elements except from atomic no 1 to 5 where they follow duplet). Electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons on the orbitals. The oxygen atom has a total of 8 electrons so, we have to put 8 electrons in orbitals. The electrons will be placed in different orbitals according to the energy level: 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, 4p, 5s, 4d, 5p, 6s, 4f, 5d, 6p, 7s, 5f.

Number

The number of neutrons normally varies and can be calculated from the atomic weight. If you click on the symbol in the periodic table at this web site

Number Of Electrons In Oxygen

You will find that

Number Of Electrons In Oxygen 16

the atomic weight of oxygen is about 16. Since the weight of the protons and neutrons is about 1 (the electrons weigh almost nothing compared to protons and neutrons) and we know we have 8 protons in the nucleus, we can calculate the number of neutrons by subtracting 8 from 16 (16 - 8) which equals 8.

The oxygen atom has therefore 8 neutrons, 8 protons and 8 electrons.

The number of valence electrons is equal with the group number. Since oxygen is in group 6 it means that it has 6 valence electrons.

Number Of Electrons In Oxygen

Check out the periodic table from the web site above. You will see that the number of protons and electrons are easy to determine. (The number in the upper right corner) The number of neutrons are a bit trickier since most of the elements have isotopes.

Number Of Electrons In Oxygen Atom