41. Each valence electron is treated separately. 42. For example, the pure semiconductor silicon has four valence electrons which bond each silicon atom to its neighbors. 43. Thus, generally, the electrons in transition metals behave as valence electrons although they are not in the valence shell. 44. Because the 7s electrons are greatly stabilized, it has been hypothesized that tennessine effectively has only five valence electrons . 45. Thus, the number of valence electrons that it may have depends on the electron configuration in a simple way. 46. Group III elements all contain three valence electrons , causing them to function as acceptors when used to dope silicon. 47. The valence electrons can be counted using a Lewis electron dot diagram as shown at the right for carbon dioxide. 48. The cation is also the simplest triatomic molecule, since its two electrons are the only valence electrons in the system. 49. In this count, carbon then has only two valence electrons in the molecule compared to four in the free atom. 50. Valence electrons are the outermost electrons of an atom and are normally the only electrons that participate in chemical bonding.
