Answer
The statement is false.
Work Step by Step
Valence electrons are the electrons involved in chemical bonding.
In most situations, valence electrons are also the electrons in the outermost occupied shell.
Therefore, the number of valence electrons equals the number of electrons in the outermost occupied shell, which is the group number in the periodic table.
Since the group number of an element does not equal its atomic number, the number of valence electrons of an element does not equal its atomic number.
The statement is false.
