How many valence electrons do Alkali metals have?

2 Answers
Jun 10, 2017

1

Explanation:

The alkali metals or group 1A family have only one electron in their valance shell.

Sodium for example has 11 electrons 2 are in the first* filled shell , 8 are in the second filled shell. This makes a total of 10 in filled shells leaving only one electron in the outer shell, where the valance electrons are located.

# 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1# is the electron configuration of Sodium.

All of the alkali metals follow the same pattern.

Jun 10, 2017

1.

Explanation:

Let's use a basic alkali metal to see how many valence electrons it has. We're going to use Potassium (K) as our alkali metal for our "experiment". Potassium has 19 as its atomic number. We can see how many electrons there are in each shell of the metal and then determine the number of valence electrons of the metal. In the first shell, there are 2 electrons. In the second shell, there are 8 electrons. In the third shell, there are also 8 electrons. And in the fourth and final shell, there is one electron. And since valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell, Potassium only has 1 valence electron.