Question

How do the valence electrons of an element determine how they will combine with other elements to produce a compound? Please help this is urgent :)

Answer 1

See explanation

Step-by-step explanation:

The valence electrons are electrons found on the valence (outermost) shell of an atom.

When an atoms form compounds, there is an exchange of valence electrons between the atoms of one element and the atoms of another element.

Let us consider a typical example, sodium has one valence electron and chlorine has seven valence electrons. This means that chlorine needs one electron to complete its octet while sodium needs to release one electron in order to attain the octet structure.

So, sodium gives out its one electron and becomes a stable sodium ion and chlorine accepts that electron and becomes a stable chloride ion. This is how the compound sodium chloride is formed.