How to Find the Valence Electrons for Carbon Tetrachloride?
The total number of electrons in the last orbit of an element is called the valence electrons of that element. Two or more elements combine to form compounds.
The valence electrons of a compound are the sum of the total valence electrons of each element in that compound. Carbon tetrachloride consists of two atoms. One is a carbon atom and the other is a chlorine atom.
The valence electrons of carbon tetrachloride are the sum of the total valence electrons of carbon and chlorine in the compound CCl4. The carbon tetrachloride compound has a total of thirty-two electrons in the last orbits of carbon and chlorine.
Hence, the total number of valence electrons in carbon tetrachloride is thirty-two. To determine the valence electrons of a compound, the number of valence electrons in each element of the compound must be known.
This article discusses in detail how to determine the valence electrons of carbon tetrachloride very easily. Hopefully, after reading this article you will know more about this topic.
How to easily determine the number of valence electrons of CCl4?
The symbol form of carbon tetrachloride is CCl4. To determine the valence electrons of CCl4, it is first necessary to know the valence electrons of the chlorine and carbon atoms.
To determine the valence electrons of carbon tetrachloride we have to follow two steps. It is shown below:
Step 1: Determine the valence electrons of carbon and chlorine atoms
The atomic number of carbon is 6. So its total number of electrons is six. The electron configuration of carbon shows that it has four electrons in its last orbit.
We already know that the electrons in the last orbit of an element are the valence electrons of that element. Therefore, the valence electrons of carbon are four.
On the other hand, the atomic number of chlorine is 17. So its total number of electrons is seventeen. The electron configuration of chlorine shows that it has seven electrons in its last orbit. Therefore, the valence electrons of chlorine are seven.
Step 2: Determine the total number of valence electrons in the carbon tetrachloride compound
Carbon tetrachloride is a compound. It is composed of one carbon atom and four chlorine atoms.
Therefore, adding the valence electrons of one carbon atom and the valence electrons of four chlorine atoms can easily determine the valence electrons of carbon tetrachloride.
Mathematical Analysis:
CCl4
= 4 + (7×4)
= 32
Carbon (C) | Chlorine (Cl) | Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) |
4 | 7 | 32 |
From the above mathematical analysis, we can see that the total number of electrons in the outermost orbit of carbon tetrachloride is thirty-two. Therefore, the valence electrons of carbon tetrachloride are thirty-two.
Why do you need to know the valence electrons of an element?
In addition to knowing the number of electrons of an element, it is also necessary to know the number of valence electrons of that element. The number of valence electrons of an element carries important properties of that element.
Many important properties of elements and compounds can be determined by valence electrons. Some important features are mentioned below:
- Determining the element’s position in the periodic table
- Determining the number of groups of elements in the periodic table
- Determining Valency
- Lewis dot formation
- Determination of the molecular structure of the compound
- Determination of bond pairs and non-pair electrons of compounds
Valence electrons are related to the characteristics of a compound. So we need to know the valence electrons of all the elements to determine the properties of compounds.