Question #cd1d3
1 Answer
Potassium, having the symbol K on the periodic table, is in the alkali metals group, which is group 1/IA, which means that all of the alkali metals have one valence electron located in their outermost energy level. The number of valence electrons in the representative elements (all the elements except for the transition and inner transition elements) can be determined by their location on the periodic table.
Group 1/IA elements have one valence electron, group 2/IIA elements have two valence electrons, group 13/IIIA elements have three valence electrons, group 14/IVA elements have four valence electrons, group 15/VA elements have five valence electrons, group 16/VIA elements have six valence electrons, group 17/VIIA elements have seven valence electrons,and group 18/VIIIA elements have eight valence electrons.
The following diagram illustrates the electron dot diagram for potassium. Notice that the single dot representing the valence electron can be written on any of the four sides of the symbol.
