Refer to the following illustration. How many hydrogen atoms could bond with oxygen?

2.

The reason why is because there are 2 available electron spots on the orbital for the oxygen atom. Hydrogen atoms have one proton and one electron, thus, in order to fill the oxygen atom orbital to a full outer shell, a maximum of 2 atoms could bond with the oxygen atoms.

6 electrons (oxygen)+ 1 electron (hydrogen)+ 1 electron (hydrogen)= 8

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RomeliaThurston RomeliaThurston · Answer 2 · 2019-05-24T08:51:11+02:00

Answer: The number of hydrogen atoms that can combine to oxygen are 2.

Explanation:

Oxygen is the 8th element of the periodic table with electronic configuration: [tex]1s^22s^22p^4[/tex]

This element requires 2 electrons to attain stable electronic configuration.

Hydrogen is the 1st element of the periodic table with electronic configuration: [tex]1s^1[/tex]

This element will loose 1 electron to attain stable electronic configuration.

2 Hydrogen atoms will share their 1 electron each with 1 oxygen atom. So, that both the element attain stable electronic configuration.

They will form a covalent compound with chemical formula [tex]H_2O[/tex]

Hence, the number of hydrogen atoms that can combine to oxygen are 2.