Why won’t the noble gases react?
Helium, neon, argon and the rest of the last column hardly react with anything. Their outer shell of electrons is already full, so they have no need to gain, lose or share electrons. Find them on the right-hand edge of the periodic table. Which column has atoms with just one electron in their outer shell, and how do they behave?
Asked by calcali
1 answer
Group 1, the alkali metals (lithium, sodium, potassium…). They lose that one electron very easily, so they react fast: a piece of potassium whizzes across water and bursts into a lilac flame.
by calcali