Radicals

[Seonmin Kim - 1B]

Do radicals ALWAYs have an odd number of valence electrons?

[Timothy Li 3A]

Radicals always have an odd number because it means that there is at least one unpaired electron somewhere in the molecule. However, there are biradicals in which a molecule/atom has two unpaired electrons. Oxygen is the best example of a biradical in that although it has an even amount of valence electrons (6), two of them are unpaired.

[306001327]

A radical electron is essentially just an electron that's by itself. Since electrons are usually in pairs, the number of electrons is almost always an even number. If there is an odd number of electrons, then it’d imply that there is a extra “lone” electron.