What is the octet rule in chemistry?

Answer 1

The octet rule is a basic way to determine if the atoms involved in a covalent molecule have enough electrons to fill their valence shells. It simply says that each atom must be able to "reach" a total of 8 electrons to be full. There are many exceptions, due to it not being an entirely true rule.

Answer 2

The octet rule is a simple rule of thumb that states that atoms tend to combine in such a way that they each have eight electrons in their valence shells, giving them the same electron configuration as a noble gas. The rule is applicable to the main-group elements. In simple terms, molecules or ions tend to be most stable when the outermost electron shells of their constituent atoms contain eight electrons

Answer 3

8 Valence electronsThe octet rule is a simple chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms tend to combine in such a way that they each have eight electrons in their valence shells, giving them the same electronic configuration as a noble gas. This 8-electron configuration is especially stable because with 8 valence electrons, the s- and p-orbitals are completely filled (with 2 in the s-orbital, and 6 in the p-orbitals). Having completely filled orbitals provides increased stability due to something called "exchange energy."

The rule is applicable to the main-group elements, especially carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the halogens, but also the metals in the first two columns of the Periodic Table (but not to the transition metals in the middle of the periodic table). Note that the elements hydrogen (H) and helium (He) don't follow the octet rule, but rather the "duet" rule (2 electrons) because they don't have any p-orbital electrons.

In simple terms, molecules or ions tend to be most stable when the outermost electron shells of their constituent atoms contain eight electrons. The rule is commonly used in drawing Lewis dot structures (see the Related Questions links to the left of this answer).

It is known that the formula used to find how much electrons (e-1) can fit a shell or orbit is 2n2

Shell 1 = 2 x (1)2 = 2 e-1

Shell 2 = 2 x (2)2 = 8 e-1 which is the maximum number a shell/orbit/orbital can hold

From answers.com

(chemistry) A concept of chemical bonding theory based on the assumption that in the formation of compounds, atoms exhibit a tendency for their valence shells either to be empty or to have a full complement of eight electrons (octet); for some elements there are more than the usual eight valence electrons in some of their compounds.

Meaning:

Why do atoms bond together? We know that two hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom to form water, but why would hydrogen and oxygen "want" to bond with each other?

Atoms have a certain number of electrons in their outer shell called valence electrons. These are the electrons that are important when considering whether an atom will bond with one another, as well as the ratio of elements in the compound.

So when considering valence electrons, the magic number happens to be eight. When there are eight electrons in the outer (last) shell of an atom, it is considered to be "full" and optimal. The reason atoms "want" a full outer shell is because a full outer shell will create a more stable particle. Atoms are always reacting with others to become stable, meaning they want to have a full outer shell. The other part of stability is having an empty outer shell, in which the second last shell will then become full. Either valence electrons will be lost or gained (through reactions and various bond types) in order to have eight electrons in the outer shell.

Answer 4

The octet rule is basically having eight valance electrons. The valance electrons is the amount of electrons in the outer shell of the atom. Typically atoms will make an ionic or covalent bond to create for the octet rule. Neon (Ne) on the periodic table already has eight valance electrons because the atomic number is 10 and that is equivelant to the number of electrons and the first electron layer always has two electrons and 10-2=8. Therefore neon is already in line with the octet rule. So the rule of octet is basically to fill the outer layer of atoms with eigtht electrons.

Answer 5

The octet rule is a basic way to determine if the atoms involved in a covalent molecule have enough electrons to fill their valence shells. It simply says that each atom must be able to "reach" a total of 8 electrons to be full. There are many exceptions, due to it not being an entirely true rule.

Answer 6

The octet rule says that atoms tend to gain, lose or share electrons so as to have eight electrons in their outer electron shell . Scientists have found that an atom is most stable with eight electrons in the outer layer, and the atoms appear to try and move toward this equilibrium.

octet rule should not really be considered a rule at all, as there are many exceptions to the behavior.

Answer 7

An octet electron arrangement is where an atom has 8 valence electrons. It's very stable and unreactive.

Some metal atoms tend to donate its electrons and the electrons accepted by non-metal atom. This is called ionic bonding. Some non-metal electron share electron among themselves to achieve octet electron arrangement. This is called covalent bonding. Conclusion is, all elements achieve octet electron arrangement.

Answer 8

The octet rule is for an atom to achieve electronic configuration as a noble gas.

Answer 9

The octet rule says that atoms other than hydrogen tend to form bonds until they have eight valence electrons. The reason for this is that the stability of the atom is increased.