BIOLOGY question #4?

Question

sodium and potassium behave similarly in chemical reations. this is because..

a)they have the same number of neutrons

b)each has a single valence electron

c)they have the same atomic mass

d)they have the same number of electrons

e)they have the same number of protons

if you could tell me how you found your answer that would be so helpful thanks

Answer 1

The answer is (b): they're both alkali metals with one valence electron.

Am I doing your homework?

Answer 2

The correct answer is B.

These elements are in the same group of the periodic table (alkali metals). This means they have the same number of valence electrons (1).

The first electron shell can only hold 2 electrons, for every element. For basics, every shell after that has eight electrons following the 'octet rule'.

Na has 3 electrons, 2 of which are in the first shell leaving one in the next shell; the valence (or outside) shell.

K has 11. 2 of them are in the first orbital which fills that one. The next orbital holds eight electrons. This leaves one left over in the valence shell.

The rest are wrong because protons and neutrons affect the atomic weight of the element, and no to atoms of the periodic table have the same number of electrons; this is what defines them.

Answer 3

I would say the answer is b)each has a single valence electron. If you look on the website below, the beginning of the second paragraph says that since they both have one electron in the outer orbit, they have similar chemical and physical properties. Also, they don't have the same atomic mass, protons, neutrons, or electrons so the only answer remaining is B.