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every element wants to fill the outer shell. That means if it is at 5 electrons it wants to get to 8. If it is at 3, it wants to get to 0.

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Q: How many valence electrons does carbon want?
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Can one hydrogen atom bond with one carbon?

Yes, but more is needed. According to the octect rule, atoms want to fill their outer most valence shell with the maximum amount of electrons. When this is applied to carbon, carbon wants to have 8 electrons in its outer most valence shell. As a neutral atoms, carbon has 4 electrons in its outer most valence shell. Hydrogen has only one electron, so it only has one elctron to give. This means carbon attacthed to one hydrogen atom has 5 electrons in its outer most valence shell. Carbon will still want to bond to more atoms in order to have 8 electrons in its more outer valence shell.


Why do carbon always forms covalent bond?

Carbon has four valence electrons in its outermost orbit which indicate it need four further electrons to complete its valence according to octect rule. It is also not possible for Carbon to remove all of its four valence electrons for the same cause of obeying octect rule. Hence the only option left for carbon is make covalent bonds with another carbon or any other element whose electrons are available for making a covalent bond. That's why most of the compounds of carbon are covalent.


What is most likely true for an atom with six valence electrons?

Atoms with that many electrons are probably nonmetals and thus want to create an ionic bond with metals (IA or IIA in your cases) or a covalent bond with other nonmetals. Carbon for example has 4 valence electrons and needs for more whereas oxygen has 6 valence electrons and needs to more. If carbon bonds with an oxygen, carbon feels like it has 6 valence electrons and oxygen feels like it has 8 valence electrons (full octet, i.e., it is satisfied). Carbon still hungers for 2 more valence electrons so it finds another oxygen atom in addition to the one it's already with and then it feels full as do the other oxygen atoms. Carbon is bonded to the two oxygens at the same time but the oxygens aren't bonded to each other directly, so all atoms feel full and the molecule (carbon dioxide) is stable and exists.


Why would some atoms share more than one pair of electrons?

Atoms are always trying to get a full valence shell (outer shell of electrons) to make themselves stable. Hydrogen and Helium only need two electrons to do this, but the other elements need eight electrons in their valence shell. Atoms try to accomplish this in the easiest way possible, using single bonds. Sometimes, though, this doesn't work. A common example of double bonding is carbon dioxide. Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell and wants to have eight. That means it wants other atoms to share four electrons with it so it can fill its shell. The two oxygen atoms that it bonds to when it becomes carbon dioxide have six electrons in their valence shell and want eight. That means they want to share two electrons each with another atom so they can have eight electrons in their valence shell and be "full". The atoms work together, sharing electrons to fill each other's valence shells, and each of the two oxygens form a double bond with carbon. The carbon atom gets two electrons from each oxygen (four total) to add to its own four to make a total of eight electrons (a full valence shell). Each oxygen gets two electrons from the carbon atom to add to its own six, making a total of eight electrons (a full valence shell). Basically, atoms share more than one pair of electrons in double or triple bonds because it's the best way for them to fill their valence shell.


Why is carbon able to form four covalent with other atoms?

Carbon has four electrons in its outer shell. The most stable electron configuration for carbon (as for most elements) is to have eight electrons in the outer shell. So if carbon can form 4 bonds, it has 4 more electrons to share and will effectively have the stable arrangement of 8 electrons. If carbon forms fewer than 4 bonds, the result is not as stable as 4 bonds, but it is still more stable than having only 4 electrons in the outer shell.

Related questions

How many electrons does an atom want in its valence shell?

8


Can one hydrogen atom bond with one carbon?

Yes, but more is needed. According to the octect rule, atoms want to fill their outer most valence shell with the maximum amount of electrons. When this is applied to carbon, carbon wants to have 8 electrons in its outer most valence shell. As a neutral atoms, carbon has 4 electrons in its outer most valence shell. Hydrogen has only one electron, so it only has one elctron to give. This means carbon attacthed to one hydrogen atom has 5 electrons in its outer most valence shell. Carbon will still want to bond to more atoms in order to have 8 electrons in its more outer valence shell.


How many valence electrons does bromine wants?

Bromine want an electron.


Why do carbon always forms covalent bond?

Carbon has four valence electrons in its outermost orbit which indicate it need four further electrons to complete its valence according to octect rule. It is also not possible for Carbon to remove all of its four valence electrons for the same cause of obeying octect rule. Hence the only option left for carbon is make covalent bonds with another carbon or any other element whose electrons are available for making a covalent bond. That's why most of the compounds of carbon are covalent.


What are atoms valence electrons?

the electrons on their outer shell, all atoms want to gain a full valence shell.


What is most likely true for an atom with six valence electrons?

Atoms with that many electrons are probably nonmetals and thus want to create an ionic bond with metals (IA or IIA in your cases) or a covalent bond with other nonmetals. Carbon for example has 4 valence electrons and needs for more whereas oxygen has 6 valence electrons and needs to more. If carbon bonds with an oxygen, carbon feels like it has 6 valence electrons and oxygen feels like it has 8 valence electrons (full octet, i.e., it is satisfied). Carbon still hungers for 2 more valence electrons so it finds another oxygen atom in addition to the one it's already with and then it feels full as do the other oxygen atoms. Carbon is bonded to the two oxygens at the same time but the oxygens aren't bonded to each other directly, so all atoms feel full and the molecule (carbon dioxide) is stable and exists.


How many valence electrons are in TiO2?

The electronic configuration of Tin is [Kr]4d10 5s2p2. Valence electrons are the electrons on the outermost shell of the neutral atom. Since the outermost shell is the 5th one, we have 4 valence electrons (2 of s and 2 of p)


Which elements is less reactive an element whose atoms have seven valence electrons or an element whose atoms have eight valence electrons?

the element with seven valence electrons will be more reactive. The reason for this is that elements want to always want to have a full valence shell (they always want 8, like a noble gas). The element with eight valence electron is happy with its full shell and will not want to get rid of any electrons.


Why would some atoms share more than one pair of electrons?

Atoms are always trying to get a full valence shell (outer shell of electrons) to make themselves stable. Hydrogen and Helium only need two electrons to do this, but the other elements need eight electrons in their valence shell. Atoms try to accomplish this in the easiest way possible, using single bonds. Sometimes, though, this doesn't work. A common example of double bonding is carbon dioxide. Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell and wants to have eight. That means it wants other atoms to share four electrons with it so it can fill its shell. The two oxygen atoms that it bonds to when it becomes carbon dioxide have six electrons in their valence shell and want eight. That means they want to share two electrons each with another atom so they can have eight electrons in their valence shell and be "full". The atoms work together, sharing electrons to fill each other's valence shells, and each of the two oxygens form a double bond with carbon. The carbon atom gets two electrons from each oxygen (four total) to add to its own four to make a total of eight electrons (a full valence shell). Each oxygen gets two electrons from the carbon atom to add to its own six, making a total of eight electrons (a full valence shell). Basically, atoms share more than one pair of electrons in double or triple bonds because it's the best way for them to fill their valence shell.


Why is carbon able to form four covalent with other atoms?

Carbon has four electrons in its outer shell. The most stable electron configuration for carbon (as for most elements) is to have eight electrons in the outer shell. So if carbon can form 4 bonds, it has 4 more electrons to share and will effectively have the stable arrangement of 8 electrons. If carbon forms fewer than 4 bonds, the result is not as stable as 4 bonds, but it is still more stable than having only 4 electrons in the outer shell.


How many valence electrons does sulfur want?

Two, to raise the outer shell total to eight electrons, like that of the next heavier noble gas.


How many electrons does Fluorine want to accept to reach a noble gas configuration?

Fluorine has 7 valence electrons and should gain 1 more electron.