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valence electron

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valence electron

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outer shell electron that is associated with an atom, and that can participate in the formation of a chemical bond if the outer shell is not closed

AI overview

A valence electron is an electron in the outermost shell of an atom that can participate in forming chemical bonds with other atoms. These electrons matter because they determine how an atom will interact with other atoms and what kinds of compounds it can form.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
electron
Part of
valence shell
Show 3 more facts
opposite of
core electron
Commons category
Electrons
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
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~12 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Four covalent bonds. Carbon has four valence electrons and here a valence of four. Each hydrogen atom has one valence electron and is univalent.

In chemistry and physics, valence electrons are electrons in the outermost shell of an atom, and that can participate in the formation of a chemical bond if the outermost shell is not closed. In a single covalent bond, a shared pair forms with both atoms in the bond each contributing one valence electron.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “valence electron” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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