noble
A common way to keep track of valence electrons is with Lewis electron dot structures . In an electron dot structure, each atom is represented by its chemical symbol, and each valence electron is represented by a single dot. Note that only valence electrons are shown explicitly in these diagrams. For the main group elements, the number of valence electrons for a neutral atom can be determined by looking at which group the element belongs to. In the s block, Group 1 elements have one valence electron, while Group 2 elements have two valence electrons. In the p block, the number of valence electrons is equal to the group number minus ten. Group 13 elements have three valence electrons, Group 14 elements have four, and so on. The noble gases in Group 18 have eight valence electrons, and the full outer s and p sublevels are what give these elements their special stability. Representative dot diagrams are shown in the Figure below :.