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In a chlorine molecule, each chlorine atom ends up surrounded by how many electrons in total?
AFourteen electrons
BEight electrons
CSix electrons
DSeven electrons
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Eight electrons
1. Each chlorine atom starts off with seven valence electrons.
2. Each chlorine shares one electron with the other, forming one covalent bond.
3. The total number of electrons around each individual atom consists of six nonbonding electrons and two shared bonding electrons.
4. That gives eight total electrons, matching the number of valence electrons in the noble gas argon.
5. Seven is the trap: that is the count before bonding.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 7 'Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry', sections 7.1-7.6_
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