Question

If an element has an atomic number of 10, how many electrons are in its outermost shell?
a). 5
b). 10
c). 8
d). 2
e). The answer cannot be determined with this information.

Answer 1

How does a question have an e?

Answer 2

Anyways, I tried searching how you could find out how many electrons are in its outermost shell, and I found this:
So we can use the column or group of an element to determine the number of electrons in its outermost shell, sometimes referred to as valence electrons. Elements from the fourth column of the periodic table, like carbon, have four electrons in their outermost electron shell of four valence electrons
I do not know almost anything about outermost shells nor electrons, I haven't studied them much, so sorry if it doesn't make sense.

Answer 3

DrBob222 to the rescue.
If an element has an atomic number of 10 that means it has 10 protons in the nucleus AND it must have 10 electrons since the natural element has a charge of zero on it. So 10 electrons total to work with. There can be 2 electrons in the first shell which makes 8 for the second shell. That takes up the 10 electrons which means shell 2 must be the outside shell and the answer is 8 in the outside shell.

Answer 4

The letter e follows the letter d so you have 5 choices.