How many electrons are in the outermost principal energy level (shell) of an atom of carbon in the ground state?

1 Answer
Dec 30, 2016

For carbon, #Z=6#, and thus its electronic configuration is................

Explanation:

#C:1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^2#. The valence shell of carbon (for which #n=2#) thus contains 4 electrons. Of course there are various hybridization schemes, but the fact remains that carbon commonly forms #CH_4# and #CR_4# molecules, i.e. utilizing 4 valence electrons.