What is the charge AND number of valence electrons in Phosphorous?

Answer 1

Phosphorus is in Group 15 of the periodic table. The last digit, 5, tells us that it has 5 valence electrons.

Since phosphorus is a nonmetal, it has a higher affinity for electrons, which means it will prefer to gain electrons instead of losing them. It needs 3 electrons to reach a noble gas configuration. Therefore, phosphorus will get a charge of -3.

Just FYI - Elemental phosphorus will have a charge of zero (0).