Is the number of valence electrons the same for all elements within a group on the periodic table?

Answer 1

This is not always true.

For elements in the main group, all of the elements in the same group have the same amount of valence electrons.

[Example] Group 1 elements have 1 valence electron in the #s# orbital. H #1s^1# Li #[He]2s^1# Na #[Ne] 3s^1# etc…

Group 16 elements have 6 valence electrons in #s# and #p# orbitals. O #[He]2s^2 2p^4# S #[Ne] 3s^2 3p^4# Se #[Ar] 3d^10 4s^2 4p^4# …

However, some transition metals don't follow this rule. For example, let's see the electronic structure of Group 8. Fe #[Ar]3d^6 color(red)(4s^2)# Ru #[Kr]4d^7 color(blue) (5s^1)# Os #[Xe] 4f^14 5d^6 color(green) (6s^2)#

Iron, ruthenium, and osmium's electronic structures are taken from WebElements (https://tutor.hix.ai).

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Answer 2

Axel Alvarado

Yes, the number of valence electrons is the same for all elements within a group on the periodic table.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.