How to Find the Valence Electrons for Potassium (K)?
Potassium is the 19th element in the periodic table. Potassium is an alkali metal and its symbol is ‘K’. Potassium forms bonds through its valence electrons.
This article discusses in detail how to easily calculate the number of valence electrons in potassium. Hopefully, after reading this article you will know in detail about this.
What are the valence electrons of potassium?
Potassium is an element of group-1 and it is an alkali metal. The valence electron is the total number of electrons in the last orbit(shell).
The total number of electrons in the last shell after the electron configuration of potassium is called the valence electrons of potassium(K).
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 potassium atom?
The valence electron has 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 electrons of potassium(K).
Step-1: Determining the total number of electrons in potassium
First, we need to know the total number of electrons in the potassium atom. To know the number of electrons, you need to know the number of protons in potassium.
And to know the number of protons, you need to know the atomic number of the potassium 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 potassium(K) elements from the periodic table. The atomic number is the number of protons and electrons equal to protons located outside the nucleus.
That is, we can finally say that there are electrons equal to the atomic number in the potassium atom. From the periodic table, we see that the atomic number of potassium is 19. That is, a potassium atom has a total of nineteen electrons.
Step-2: Need to do electron configuration of potassium
Step 2 is very important. In this step, the electrons of potassium have to be arranged. We know that a potassium atom has a total of nineteen electrons.
The electron configuration of potassium shows that the first shell of potassium has two electrons, the second shell has eight electrons, the 3rd shell has eight electrons and the 4th shell has an 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 of potassium shows that the last shell of potassium has one electron. Therefore, the valence electrons of potassium are one.
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What is the valency of potassium?
The ability of one atom of an element to join another atom during the formation of a molecule is called valency(valence). The number of unpaired electrons in the last orbit of an element is the valency of that element.
The electron configuration shows that the last shell of the potassium atom has an unpaired electron(4s1). So the valency of potassium is 1.
How many valence electrons does potassium ion(K+) have?
The elements that have 1, 2, or 3 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.
Potassium donates an electron of the last shell to form a bond and turn into a potassium ion(K+). That is, potassium is a cation element.
K – e– → K+
The electron configuration of potassium ion(K+) is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6. The electron configuration of potassium-ion shows that potassium ion have three shells and the last shell has eight electrons.
This electron configuration shows that the potassium atom has acquired the electron configuration of argon.
That is, in this case, the valency of the potassium-ion is +1. Since the last shell of a potassium-ion has eight electrons, the valence electrons of potassium-ion(K+) are eight.
Compound formation of potassium
Potassium participates in the formation of bonds through its valence electron. These valence electrons participate in the formation of bonds with atoms of other elements.
The electron configuration of oxygen shows that the valence electrons of oxygen are six. The potassium atom donates its valence electrons to the oxygen atom and the oxygen atom receives that electron.
As a result, potassium(K) acquires the electron configuration of argon and the oxygen atom acquires the electron configuration of neon.
Oxygen and potassium atoms form potassium oxide(K2O) bonds through electron exchange. Potassium oxide(K2O) is ionic bonding.
