Question

looking at the periodic table, sodium has _ outer shells and _ electrons.

Explanation:

Step1: Locate sodium in the periodic table

Sodium (Na) has an atomic number of 11. Its electron - configuration is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{1}\). The number of electron shells is determined by the principal quantum number \(n\).

Step2: Determine the number of outer shells

From the electron - configuration \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{1}\), the highest value of \(n\) (principal quantum number) is 3. So, sodium has 3 outer shells.

Step3: Determine the number of outer - shell electrons

Looking at the outermost shell (\(n = 3\)), the electron - configuration of the outermost shell is \(3s^{1}\). So, the number of electrons in the outer shell is 1.

Answer:

3, 1