Question

How many valence electrons would be found in an atom Te?

Answer 1

Te is the symbol of a chemical element tellurium. It is a rare silver- white metalloid which is mildly toxic and brittle. It is located in the ${{16}^{th}}$ group and ${{5}^{th}}$ period in the periodic table of elements.

Complete answer:
Tellurium is a metalloid that belongs to the oxygen family. It is widely used in vulcanised rubber, in solar cells, to tint glass and in ceramics. The atomic number of tellurium is 52.
We can account for the number valence electron in 2 ways:
(1)The valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost shell of an atom. With the valence electron chemically reacts with other elements and forms a bond.
The electronic configuration of tellurium: $1{{s}^{2}}2{{s}^{^{2}}}2{{p}^{6}}3{{s}^{2}}3{{p}^{6}}4{{s}^{2}}3{{d}^{10}}4{{p}^{6}}5{{s}^{2}}4{{d}^{10}}5{{p}^{4}}$
The electronic configuration is written according to Aufbau rule.
If we represent it pictorially, the outermost most shell will contain 6 electrons. So, 6 is the valence electron.
(2) We know that tellurium belongs to oxygen family that group sixteen. The elements of the same group have the same property almost in all aspects. Valence electrons are the electrons that react with other elements and form new compounds. In the oxygen family all the other elements have 6 valence electrons.
Thus, since it belongs to group 16 the valence electron of tellurium is 6.

Note:
A very important thing to be noted is that valence electrons are the number of electrons in the outermost shell of an atom not in subshell. Since the valence electron is present in the outermost shell it is easily prone to react with other elementals. Any atom loses or gains electrons in order to attain a stable state that is to complete its octet.