How to Find the Valence Electrons for Lithium (Li)?

How to Find the Valence Electrons for Lithium (Li)?

Lithium is the third element in the periodic table and the 2nd element in group-1. The standard atomic mass of lithium is 6.938 and its symbol is ‘Li’.

Lithium is called alkali metal. Lithium atoms participate in the formation of bonds through valence electrons.

This article discusses in detail how to easily calculate the number of valence electrons in lithium. Hopefully, after reading this article you will know in detail about this.

How many electrons, protons and neutrons does a lithium atom have?

The nucleus is located in the center of the atom. Protons and neutrons are located in the nucleus. The atomic number of lithium is 3. The atomic number is the number of protons.

That is, the number of protons in lithium is three. Electrons equal to protons are located in a circular shell outside the nucleus. That is, a lithium atom has a total of three electrons.

The number of neutrons in an element is obtained from the difference between the number of atomic masses and the number of atoms. That is, neutron number (n) = atomic mass number (A) – atomic number (Z)

We know that the atomic number of lithium is 3 and the atomic mass number is about 7(6.938). Neutron (n) = 7 – 3 = 4. Therefore, the number of neutrons in lithium is 4.

What are the valence electrons of lithium?

The valence electrons are the total number of electrons in the last orbit. The total number of electrons in the last shell after the electron configuration of lithium is called the valence electrons of lithium. The valence electrons determine the properties of the element and participate in the formation of bonds.

How do you calculate the number of valence electrons in a lithium atom?

The valence electrons have to be determined by following a few steps. The electron configuration is one of them. It is not possible to determine the valence electron without electron configuration.

Knowing the electron configuration in the right way, it is very easy to determine the valence electrons of all the elements.

However, valence electrons can be easily identified by arranging electrons according to the Bohr principle. Now we will learn how to determine the valence electron of lithium.

Step-1: Determining the total number of electrons in lithium

First we need to know the total number of electrons in the lithium atom. To know the number of electrons, you need to know the number of protons in lithium.

And to know the number of protons, you need to know the atomic number of the lithium element. To know the atomic number we need to take the help of a periodic table.

It is necessary to know the atomic number of lithium elements from the periodic table. The atomic number is the number of protons. And electrons equal to protons are located outside the nucleus.

That is, we can finally say that there are electrons equal to the atomic number in the lithium atom. From the periodic table, we see that the atomic number of lithium is three. That is, a lithium atom has a total of three electrons.

Step-2: Need to do electron configuration of lithium

Step 2 is very important. In this step, the electrons of lithium have to be arranged. We know that lithium atoms have a total of three electrons.

The electron configuration of lithium shows that there are two electrons in the K shell and one in the L shell. That is, the first shell of lithium has two and the second shell has one electron.

Step-3: Determine the valence shell and calculate the total electrons

The third step is to diagnose the valence shell. The last shell after the electron configuration is called the valence shell. The total number of electrons in a valence shell is called valence electrons.

The electron configuration shows that the last shell of lithium has only an electron. Therefore, the valence electrons of lithium are one.

What is the valency of lithium?

The ability to bind one atom to another and form compounds is called valency(valence). There are some rules for diagnosing valency. The number of electrons in an unpaired state in the last orbital after the electron configuration of an atom is called the valency of that element.

The electron configuration of lithium shows that lithium has an electron in the last orbital. Therefore, the valency of lithium is 1.

How many valence electrons of lithium ion(Li+) have?

After the electron configuration, the last shell of the lithium atom has an electron. In this case, both the valence and valence electrons of lithium are one.

We know the details about this. The elements that have 1, 2, or three electrons in the last shell donate the electrons in the last shell during bond formation.

The elements that form bonds by donating electrons are called cations. That is, lithium is a cation element. Lithium donates the electrons of the last shell to form bonds and turns into lithium ions.

Li – e– → Li +

The electron configuration of lithium ions is 1s2. The electron configuration of lithium ions shows that lithium ions have only one shell and that shell has two electrons.

The electron configuration shows that the lithium atom has acquired the electron configuration of helium. Since the last shell of a lithium-ion has two electrons, the valence electrons of a lithium-ion are two.

Compound formation of lithium by valence electrons

Lithium participates in the formation of bonds through its valence electrons. This valence electron participates in the formation of bonds with atoms of other elements.

The electron configuration of fluorine shows that the valence electrons of fluorine are seven. The lithium atom donates its valence electron to the fluorine atom and the fluorine atom receives that electron.

As a result, fluorine acquires the electron configuration of neon and the lithium atom acquires the electron configuration of helium. Fluorine and lithium atoms form lithium fluoride(LiF) bonds through electron exchange. The lithium fluoride(LiF) bond is ionic bonding.