CHM110H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Noble Gas, Electrostatics, Open Shell
Document Summary
Properties of chemical bonds some elements like he, ne, and ar are never found bonded to other atoms whereas most other elements are only found bonded to other elements. The answer lies in their closed shell electron con gurations. Because the valence shell of a noble gas is completely full, it cannot accept another electron into the shell. The nucleus is positively charged and pulls on the electron, so the loss of an electron from a noble gas is unfavorable. Therefore, like real nobility, the noble gases do not want to do anything at all--that is, noble gases are unreactive because they have lled valence shells. Any element other than a noble gas has an open shell con guration, which is unstable relative to the con guration of a noble gas. Non-noble atoms react to form bonds in an attempt to achieve a closed shell electron con guration.
