Valence electrons calculator with steps - Easy to use

A valence electron calculator is an online tool that will help you to find the valence electrons for any atom right away. Valence electrons lie farthest away from the atomic nucleus therefore these electrons experience the least force of attraction from an atom’s positively charged nuclear center.

Note: This calculator only works for S and P block elements. Please do not use this valence electron calculator for d and f block element, the data provided for these element in this calculator is wrong.

Please look at this article to find the valence electrons for transition metals (d-block elements).

How to use the Valence electron calculator?

In three steps, you can get valence electrons for any element, let’s see how it works.

• Enter the name or symbol of the atom in the given blank box.
• Click the submit button
• After submission, the result will be shown to you.

For example –

Let’s say you have to calculate valence electrons in nitrogen.

⇒ Enter either the Nitrogen or the “N” symbol in the given empty box of the Valence electron calculator.

⇒ Click the submit button

⇒ The “valence electron calculator” will calculate the number of the valence electron in the Nitrogen atom and you will get your answer.

How to Calculate Valence electrons?

The Periodic Table is a tabular display of chemical elements, arranged in ascending order of atomic numbers. It consists of vertically arranged groups and horizontal rows called periods.

There are a total of 18 groups and 7 periods in the Periodic Table. The elements situated in groups (1, 2, and 13-18) are called main-group elements. Groups 1 and 2 of the Periodic Table together make an s-block. On the other hand, the block comprised of groups (13-18) is called a p-block.

For main-group elements, valence electrons can be determined from their position in the Periodic Table i.e., their group number and/or the electronic configuration of elements.

However, valence electrons are not always the electrons present in the outermost shell. All the elements lying in groups (3-12) constitute another block in the Periodic Table called a d-block. These d-block elements are transition metals that exhibit a variable valency.

Thus, the valence electrons of d-block elements, unlike the s and p blocks, do not exist in the outermost shells only. Rather, their valence electrons can be present in the inner/ core shells as well.

Hence, we need to consider a lot of different ways when finding the valence electrons of a specific chemical element from the Periodic Table.

For instance, Let’s check the number of valence electrons in the most common atoms.

Also read: How to find valence electrons of any atom or compound?

How to calculate the Valence electrons using a Periodic table?

 The position of a chemical element in the Periodic Table gives a major hint in determining that element’s valence electrons. 

For the S and P block elements, the number of valence electrons is equal to the group number in which the element is situated.

For examples –

• Lithium (Li) is present in group 1, and it has 1 valence electron. Similarly,
  all the elements present in group 1 have a single valence electron only.
• Magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) are both present in group 2 and have 2 valence electrons each. Similarly, all the elements present in group 2 have two valence electrons only.

Now, P-block contains the group 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. These groups are also written as – Group 13 or 3A, Group 14 or 4A, Group 15 or 5A, Group 16 or 6A, Group 17 or 7A, and Group 18 or 8A.

The valence electrons for P-block is also found by the same method as S-block. Just look at the Group number of element = it is equal to the number of valence electrons.

For example-

• The boron atom belongs to Group 3A, hence, the number of valence electrons in the boron atom is 3.
• Same, the oxygen atom belongs to Group 6A, hence, the number of valence electrons in the oxygen atom is 6.

That’s all, just remember the Group number of S and P-block elements, and calculate their valence electrons.

FAQ