Uranium (U) is a chemical element with the atomic number 92, meaning it has 92 protons in its nucleus. The atomic number also corresponds to the number of electrons in a neutral atom of that element.
To determine the number of valence electrons in an atom of uranium, we need to consider its electron configuration. The electron configuration describes the arrangement of electrons in the various energy levels or orbitals of an atom.
For uranium, the electron configuration can be represented as [Rn] 5f^3 6d^1 7s^2. Here, [Rn] represents the electron configuration of the preceding noble gas, radon (Rn). The numbers and letters after the noble gas represent the specific electron orbitals and the number of electrons in each.
From the electron configuration, we can determine that uranium has two electrons in the 7s orbital, one electron in the 6d orbital, and three electrons in the 5f orbital. Adding these together gives us a total of 2 + 1 + 3 = 6 valence electrons for uranium.
Therefore, uranium (U) has six valence electrons.