Electron Configuration vs. Valence Electron Configuration

[Yu Jin Kwon 3L]

Hello!

I just wanted to ask if there was a difference between electron configurations and valence electron configurations because I'm pretty sure there was a question on one of the textbook problems where it specifically asked for the valence electron configuration rather than just the electron configuration. How would you denote this difference?

Thank you!

[Kaili Valenzuela 2B]

Hi! Electron configuration is the number of electrons that are present in the atom and is repressed through the different sub-shells. So for example, the electron configuration for oxygen is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^4. While the valence electrons only refer to the electrons in the outermost shell of the atom. For example oxygen has 6 valance electrons in the outermost shell. Hope this helps!

[Bella Bursulaya 3G]

Hi! The valence electron shell are the electrons in the outermost shells. So in sulfur, for example, the core electrons are the electrons leading up to the nearest noble gas, in this case Neon, and the rest of the electrons are the valence. I also wanted to say that for transitional metals, you need to count the d electrons as well as the s and p, but for all other elements, do not count the d electrons in the valence.