wiki Word: Valence Shell

Definition:  

The valence shell is the outermost shell of an atom.

Include any facts, details, examples, good LINCS words or phrases, questions, important info, etc. that might help students understand and remember this vocab word.

• Electrons in the valence shell are referred to as valence electrons.
• The physical chemist Gilbert Lewis was responsible for much of the early development of the theory of the participation of valence shell electrons in chemical bonding.
• The electrons in the valence shell are distributed 2 in the single s orbital and 2 each in the three p orbitals as well as up to 10 additional electrons, distributed as 2 into each of 5 d orbitals, to make a total of 18 electrons in a complete valence shell for such a compound. This is referred to as the eighteen electron rule.
• The following orbitals after the d are the f and hypothisised g and h
• The # of shapes of the f orbital is 7 and there is 9 in the g and 11 in the h orbitals

In this image the valence shell contains 1 electron.

SO WHAT??? SECTION: Why are we studying this term? Why do you need to understand this word to be sucessful in science? How does this term apply to any of our class labs or the real world?

One reason that i came up with as to why we would need to know this word is that, all atoms like to have eight electrond in their outermost electron shell. I know this because of the octet rule. in order for an element or atom to be "happy" it has to have a full valence shell, by borrowing, stealing or loseing some electrons. So if you plan on taking a highly intelegent chemistry class (which you should) then when your professor is talking about how different elements or atoms bond you will be able to understand why. Also if you want to be a scientist you might need to know where the valence shell is so you can decied what group the element belongs to.

Cite any sources used for the information or images on this page. Use proper MLA format. Include EXACT web address (preferably with clickable link).

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_shell
• http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030363896
• http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Electricity/Graphics/copperatom.gif