What is the number of "UNBOUND" electrons in H2O...its not 0 or 2....is it 1??
NVVVMMMM its 4
To determine the number of "unbound" electrons in H2O (water), we need to understand the electron configuration of each atom in the molecule.
In water (H2O), there are two hydrogen atoms (H) and one oxygen atom (O).
The atomic number of oxygen is 8, which means it has 8 electrons in a neutral state. The electron configuration of oxygen is 1s² 2s² 2p⁴.
The atomic number of hydrogen is 1, and each hydrogen atom has one electron. The electron configuration of hydrogen is 1s¹.
To figure out the number of "unbound" or valence electrons, we consider the outermost energy level (valence shell). In the case of oxygen, the valence shell is the second energy level (2s² 2p⁴).
Oxygen has six valence electrons (4 + 2) in its valence shell.
For hydrogen, there is only one energy level (1s¹), so it has one valence electron.
When we combine two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom to form H2O, the hydrogen atoms each share their one valence electron with the oxygen atom.
The oxygen atom shares each of its electrons in its 2s² 2p⁴ valence shell with the two hydrogen atoms, forming two covalent bonds.
So, in total, there are two shared electrons in the covalent bonds, one from each hydrogen atom.
Therefore, the number of "unbound" or non-bonded electrons in H2O is 4 (the remaining four valence electrons of oxygen).