Chlorine Atom

How many valence electrons are in an atom of chlorine?

• Chlorine Atomic Weight
• Chlorine Atom Protons Neutrons Electrons

3 Answers

Explanation:

The electron configuration of chlorine is #1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^5# or #'[Ne]'3s^2 3p^5#.

1. Chlorine is a chemical element with atomic number 17 which means there are 17 protons in its nucleus. Total number of protons in the nucleus is called the atomic number of the atom and is given the symbol Z. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to 1,602 x 10-19 coulombs.
2. Chlorine Atoms (Cl) Chlorine atoms react with aromatic hydrocarbons, but only at a significant rate with those having saturated side chains from which the chlorine atom can abstract a hydrogen or unsaturated side chains to which it can add.
3. Chlorine destroys ozone, contributing to the process of ozone depletion. In fact, one chlorine atom can destroy as many as 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the stratosphere.
4. The bond length in ClCl is: 189.1pm. There are several other ways ways to define radius for atoms and ions. Follow the appropriate hyperlinks for literature references and definitions of each type of radius. All values of radii are given in picometres (pm).

Chlorine has two stable isotopes chlorine-35 and chlorine-37with Chlorine-35 accounting for roughly 3 out of every 4 naturally occurring chlorine atoms. Chlorine-36 is also known naturally and is a radioactive isotope with a half life of about 30,000 years.

The #3s^2 3p^5# electrons are the outermost electrons, so chlorine has seven valence electrons.

In a picture, the valence electrons are the ones in the outermost shell.

You can see in the diagram below that there are seven electrons in the outermost circle.

Additionally, a more basic way of determining the number of valence electrons would be to simply look at what group Cl is in.

It is in Group 17, which means it has 7 valence electrons.

Chlorine has an atomic number 17. Atomic number is the number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom. All the atoms of an element have same atomic number. In every stable atom the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons. Therefore, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons in an chlorine atom. This means, that the number of electrons present in an chlorine atom is 17.

The electronic configuration of chlorine atom is:-
E.C - K L M
2 8 7
Where k, l, ,m are the shells/orbits/ energy levels of an chlorine atom.

Chlorine Atomic Weight

Valence electrons are the number of electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom. Now, the last shell of chlorine atom has 7 electrons in it. Therefore, there are 7 valence electrons present in an chlorine atom.

Here, stable means that atom has not formed a ion yet.

Chlorine has seven valence electrons.

Chlorine has atomic number 17.

The atomic number is the number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom.All the atoms of an element have same atomic number.

In every stable atom the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons. Stable means that atom has not formed a ion yet.

Therefore, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons in an chlorine atom.

This means, that the number of electrons present in an chlorine atom is 17.

Chlorine Atom Protons Neutrons Electrons

The energy shells of an atom are in the order K, L, M …

So the electronic configuration of chlorine atom is: K, L, M = 2, 8, 7

Valence electrons are the number of electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom.

The last shell of a chlorine atom has 7 electrons in it.

Therefore, there are 7 valence electrons in an chlorine atom.

Here is a video which gives a quick discussion of how to determine how many valence electrons atoms of different elements have.
Video from: Noel Pauller

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