how many valence electrons does an oxygen atom have?

Question

A.8
B.16
C.10
D.6

Answer 1

valence electrons are electrons on the outer most energy level.. therefor 6

Answer 2

6

Answer 3

D. Six. The electronic configuration of oxygen is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^4. Because the 2p electrons are the valence electrons, there are 6 of them.

But if you have been taught that there are two electrons in the first shell and eight in the second shell, then the answer is also six. This is because the total number of electrons on oxygen is eight. So if there are two in the first, there must be only six in the second.