 In the periodic table , livermorium is a member of group 16 , the chalcogens , in the periodic table , below oxygen , sulfur , selenium , tellurium , and polonium . Every previous chalcogen has six electrons in its valence shell , forming a valence electron configuration of ns2np4 . In livermorium 's case , the trend should be continued and the valence electron configuration is predicted to be 7s27p4 ; therefore , livermorium will have some similarities to its lighter congeners . Differences are likely to arise ; a large contributing effect is the spin – orbit ( SO ) interaction — the mutual interaction between the electrons ' motion and spin . It is especially strong for the superheavy elements , because their electrons move much faster than in lighter atoms , at velocities comparable to the speed of light . In relation to livermorium atoms , it lowers the 7s and the 7p electron energy levels ( stabilizing the corresponding electrons ) , but two of the 7p electron energy levels are stabilized more than the other four . The stabilization of the 7s electrons is called the inert pair effect , and the effect " tearing " the 7p subshell into the more stabilized and the less stabilized parts is called subshell splitting . Computation chemists see the split as a change of the second ( azimuthal ) quantum number l from 1 to 1 ⁄ 2 and 3 ⁄ 2 for the more stabilized and less stabilized parts of the 7p subshell , respectively : the 7p1 / 2 subshell acts as a second inert pair , though not as inert as the 7s electrons , while the 7p3 / 2 subshell can easily participate in chemistry . For many theoretical purposes , the valence electron configuration may be represented to reflect the 7p subshell split as 7s27p2 
