Question #4ca12

1 Answer
Jun 17, 2017

5 in its neutral state

Explanation:

If you look at the periodic table, Phosphorus in in group 5. As it is not a transition metal, the group number will tell you the number of outer shell electrons the neutral state of an atom has.

ptable.com

Ignore the fact that it is 15, just treat it as 5 because it is not a transition metal.
Hence it has 5 electrons in its outer shell.