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How many protons and how many inner (nonvalence) electrons does a neutral oxygen atom have?

Express your answers as integers separated by a comma.

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Final answer:

A neutral oxygen atom has 8 protons and 2 inner (nonvalence) electrons, as it has a total of 8 electrons with 6 being valence electrons.

Step-by-step explanation:

An atom of oxygen, which can be found in group 16 of the periodic table, has an atomic number of 8. This atomic number indicates that a neutral oxygen atom contains 8 protons and, since it's neutral, an equal number of electrons, making 8 electrons in total. Among these, oxygen has six valence electrons which are used for bonding with other atoms. The remaining two electrons are in the inner shell (also known as the K shell), and since they are not valence electrons, they are considered inner (nonvalence) electrons. Therefore, an oxygen atom has 8 protons and 2 inner (nonvalence) electrons.

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