The 45th element in the periodic table is rhodium. The element of group-9 is rhodium and its symbol is ‘Rh’. Rhodium is a d-block element. Therefore, the valence electrons of rhodium are determined differently.

What are the valence electrons of rhodium?

The valence electrons are the total number of electrons in the last orbit. The 2nd element in group-9 is rhodium and it is the d-block element. The elements in groups 3-12 are called transition elements.

But in the case of transition elements, the valence electrons remain in the inner shell(orbit). Because the electron configuration of the transition elements shows that the last electrons enter the d-orbital.

rhodium atom — Rhodium atom (Bohr model)

The electron configuration of rhodium shows that the last shell of rhodium has an electron and the d-orbital has a total of eight electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of rhodium are nine.

The valence electrons determine the properties of the element and participate in the formation of bonds. The electrons of the d-orbital participate in the formation of bonds.

So, to determine the valence electrons of a transition element, the last shell electrons have to be calculated with the d-orbital electrons.

How do you calculate the number of valence electrons in a rhodium 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 electrons without electron configuration.

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

The valence electrons of the transition element cannot be determined according to Bohr’s atomic model. Because the valence electrons of the transition elements are located in the inner shell.

However, the valence electron of the transition element can be easily determined according to the Aufbau principle. Now we will learn how to determine the valence electron of rhodium.

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

The elements in the periodic table are arranged according to their atomic number. Since rhodium is the 45th element of the periodic table, the atomic number of rhodium is 45.

We must always remember that the atomic number and the number of protons of an element are equal. Therefore, a rhodium atom contains forty-five protons.

We must also remember that the number of protons and electrons in an element is equal. Therefore, a rhodium atom contains forty-five electrons in its orbits.

Step-2: Need to do electron configuration of rhodium

Step 2 is very important. In this step, the electrons of rhodium have to be arranged. We know that rhodium atoms have a total of forty-five electrons.

The full electron configuration of rhodium is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d⁸ 5s¹. Here the valence electron configuration of rhodium is [Kr] 4d⁸ 5s¹.

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.

But the valence electrons of the transition elements are located in the inner orbit. For the transition element, the valence electrons have to be determined by adding the total electrons of the d-orbital to the electron in the last shell of the atom.

The last shell of rhodium has an electron and the d-orbital has a total of eight electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of rhodium are nine.