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QuestionChemistry

"How many valence electrons does Chlorine (Cl) need to be stable? A. 1 B. 8 C. 4 D. 7 E. 2"
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Answer

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Step 1:
I'll solve this problem step by step, following the specified LaTeX formatting guidelines:

Step 2:
: Understand Valence Electrons

Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell of an atom that participate in chemical bonding. For most main group elements, the goal is to achieve a stable electron configuration with 8 valence electrons (octet rule).

Step 3:
: Determine Chlorine's Electron Configuration

- Note the $$3p^{5}$$ indicates it currently has 7 valence electrons
- Chlorine's atomic number is 17

Step 4:
: Calculate Electrons Needed for Stability

- $$8 - 7 = 1$$ electron needed
- Chlorine needs 1 more electron to complete its octet (reach 8 valence electrons)

Step 5:
: Identify the Correct Answer

By counting the electrons needed to reach a stable configuration, we can see that Chlorine needs 1 electron.

Final Answer

D. 7 (Chlorine needs 1 electron to become stable, which means it currently has 7 valence electrons)