Question

What are some examples of valence electrons?

Answer 1

The valence electrons are the electrons that determine the most typical bonding patterns for an element.

Using the electron configuration for each element we can determine the valence electrons.

Na - Sodium $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^1$
Sodium has 1 valence electron from the 3s orbital

P - Phosphorus $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^3$
Phosphorus has 5 valence electrons 2 from the 3s and 3 from the 3p