Answer – The valence shell of an atom is the outermost shell containing electrons that form bonds with other atoms.
Explanation:
Electrons are distributed in shells, or orbits, at varying distances from the nucleus. Each of these has a different energy level with the one closest to the nucleus having the least amount of energy. As the distance from the nucleus increases, the energy of the shell also increases.
In order to attain the most stable atomic state, electrons follow Aufbau’s principle and fill the shells with the lowest energy first. Thus, the innermost shell is occupied first followed by the one with the next highest energy level and so on until all the electrons are filled. The outermost shell of an atom, which is the last one to be occupied, is called the valence shell. It is where the electrons with the highest energy, known as valence electrons, occur. These are the electrons that are lost, gained, or shared to form bonds and are thus the ones that determine the reactivity of the atom.
Consider an aluminum atom, which has a total of 13 electrons. Its electrons are arranged as follows:
The atom has 3 shells with the first having 2 electrons, the second having 8, and the third having 3 electrons. The third shell is thus the outermost one with 3 valence electrons.
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