(3) Every element in that column has the same number of electrons in the outermost (4) shell, also called the _________ electrons.

A. chemical
B. physical
C. valence

C. valence

The answer is C. valence.

To arrive at this answer, we need to understand that the "outermost shell" refers to the electron configuration of an atom. The outermost shell is also known as the valence shell, and the electrons in this shell are called valence electrons.

To determine this, first we need to identify the column being referred to in the question. In the periodic table, each column is called a group or a family. The number associated with each column indicates the number of valence electrons for the elements in that group. For example, Group 1 (the first column) contains elements with 1 valence electron, Group 2 has 2 valence electrons, and so on.

In the question, it is mentioned that every element in the column has the same number of electrons in the outermost shell. This means that all the elements in that column have the same number of valence electrons. The term used to denote these valence electrons is "valence".

Hence, the answer is C. valence.