Question

How many valence electrons does carbon have available for bonding to other atoms?

Answer 1

Hint: The valence electrons are those electrons which are present in the outermost orbital of the atom. The atomic number of carbon is 6 which denotes the number of electrons in the carbon atom. With the help of atomic numbers the electronic configuration of the atom can be determined.

Complete answer:
The carbon is a chemical compound with symbol C. The carbon is the organic compound which has the capability to form covalent bonds. The covalent bond is the chemical bond formed by the mutual sharing of the electrons between the atoms to form compounds. The carbon is group 14 element which is also known as carbon group. It is present in period 2 and is a p-block element.
The atomic number of carbon is 6. The value is the number of electrons present in the carbon atom. The electronic configuration of carbon is $[He]2s^{2}2p^2$. The valence electrons present in the outermost orbital is 4. The valence electrons are defined as the electrons present in the outermost orbital of the atom to form chemical bond. The atom loses or gains electrons to form ion. The atom gains electrons to form a negatively charged anion and the atom loses the electrons to form a positively charged cation. The carbon can neither lose electron nor gain electron to form ion so it its four electrons to other atom to form covalent bond and can attach four different atom or same atom. Due to this reason the carbon is known as the tetravalent atom.
Therefore, carbon has 4 valence electrons available for bonding to other atoms.

Note:
The carbon atom is $s{p}^3$ hybridized. When the carbon is attached to four different groups or atoms, then it is known as chiral carbon and the compound is known as chiral compound.