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The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that reflects the theory that main-group elements tend to bond in such a way that each atom has eight electrons in its valence shell, giving it the same electronic configuration as a noble gas. The rule is especially applicable to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the halogens; although more generally the ...
As a general rule, a main-group element (except hydrogen or helium) tends to react to form a s 2 p 6 electron configuration. This tendency is called the octet rule, because each bonded atom has 8 valence electrons including shared electrons.
It now has 8 total valence electrons, which obeys the octet rule. CH 4, for the central C; neutral counting: C contributes 4 electrons, each H radical contributes one each: 4 + 4 × 1 = 8 valence electrons ionic counting: C 4− contributes 8 electrons, each proton contributes 0 each: 8 + 4 × 0 = 8 electrons. Similar for H:
A trick is to count up valence electrons, then count up the number of electrons needed to complete the octet rule (or with hydrogen just 2 electrons), then take the difference of these two numbers. The answer is the number of electrons that make up the bonds. The rest of the electrons just go to fill all the other atoms' octets.
In chemistry and atomic physics, an electron shell may be thought of as an orbit that electrons follow around an atom's nucleus.The closest shell to the nucleus is called the "1 shell" (also called the "K shell"), followed by the "2 shell" (or "L shell"), then the "3 shell" (or "M shell"), and so on further and further from the nucleus.
In 1916, Gilbert N. Lewis explained valence and chemical bonding in terms of a tendency of (main-group) atoms to achieve a stable octet of 8 valence-shell electrons. According to Lewis, covalent bonding leads to octets by the sharing of electrons, and ionic bonding leads to octets by the transfer of electrons from one atom to the other.
The electron-shell configuration of elements beyond hassium has not yet been empirically verified, but they are expected to follow Madelung's rule without exceptions until element 120. Element 121 should have the anomalous configuration [ Og ] 8s 2 5g 0 6f 0 7d 0 8p 1 , having a p rather than a g electron.
Valence Bond theory describes chemical bonding better than Lewis Theory, which states that atoms share or transfer electrons so that they achieve the octet rule. It does not take into account orbital interactions or bond angles, and treats all covalent bonds equally. [ 8 ]