How many electrons are in the n = 2 shell of the oxygen atom before bonding? eight electrons 2. what is the maximum number of electrons an oxygen atom can hold in its outer energy level? ten electrons 3. how many total electrons are there in a water molecule? two bonds 4. how many electrons are being shared between the atoms in this molecule? four electrons 5. how many bonds exist in this molecule? six electrons

Answers

1.8 electrons

2.10 electrons

3.10 electrons

4.8 from the oxygen atom and 1 from each of the 2 hydrogen atoms

5.4 hydrogen bonds

Explanation

The atomic number of oxygen is 8 thus it has a total of 8 electrons. When writing the electron configuration for the oxygen, the first n shell requires two electrons to complete the 1st orbital. The fact that 1s holds a maximum of 2 electrons the next 2 electrons of oxygen goes to 2s orbital. The 2s orbital takes a maximum of two electrons and the remaining 4 electrons occupy the 2p orbital. The configuration formed will be 1s² 2s² 2p4 .The maximum number of electrons in the second shell is 2n²=2×2² =8 from the formula 2n² (the maximum number of electrons in a shell). The total number of electrons in the second shell is 2(in s orbital) +4 (in p orbital) =6.The number of unpaired electrons is 8-6=2

A water molecule has four hydrogen bonds, because it is made up of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom. A water molecule has 10 protons and 10 electrons thus it is neutral. In the water molecule there is formation of covalent bonds where oxygen atom and hydrogen atoms share electrons though the sharing is not equal. In the covalent bond, the oxygen atoms attract electrons more than the hydrogen atoms.