* Boron's electron configuration: Boron has an atomic number of 5, meaning it has 5 electrons. Its electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p¹.
* Valence electrons: Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost energy level. For boron, these are the 2 electrons in the 2s orbital and the 1 electron in the 2p orbital, for a total of 3 valence electrons.
* Non-valence electrons: The remaining electrons are the non-valence electrons. In this case, the 2 electrons in the 1s orbital are the non-valence electrons.
Therefore, a neutral boron atom has 2 non-valence electrons.
