Yes that would float in water
You can detect salt in water without tasting by measuring the density of the water. Place a glass of spring water and a glass of the suspected salt water on a balance scale and the heavier one contains salt. Other ways to test for salt in water is to put a drop of water on the end of a nail and place in a gas flame. If the water contains salt, the flame will turn a yellow/orange color.
Answer for your question is;
2,6 = 8
The first shell is 2 electrons the other shell is 6 electrons
It is by looking on the dates of the paper.
Hoped this helped.
~Bob Ross®