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Use the periodic table to answer the question.

Which Statement about magnesium [Mg] and calcium [Ca] is correct?
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They are both classified as noble gases.
They both have the same number of valence electrons.
They both have the same number of electron shells.

1 answer

To evaluate the statements about magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca):

  1. Noble gases: This statement is incorrect because both magnesium and calcium are classified as alkaline earth metals, not noble gases. Noble gases are found in Group 18 of the periodic table.

  2. Same number of valence electrons: This statement is correct. Both magnesium (which has 2 valence electrons) and calcium (which also has 2 valence electrons) belong to Group 2 of the periodic table and thus have the same number of valence electrons.

  3. Same number of electron shells: This statement is incorrect. Magnesium has 3 electron shells (configuration: 2, 8, 2), while calcium has 4 electron shells (configuration: 2, 8, 8, 2).

Based on this analysis, the correct statement is: They both have the same number of valence electrons.