Calcium achieves the octetmost readily not by filling the outermost shell but rather by losing two electrons in the valence shell to form the Ca2+ ion.
Calcium has 2 valence electrons in its outer shell. To fill its shell, calcium gives up these 2 electrons to achieve a stable octet configuration, forming a 2+ cation.
Sulfur has 6 electrons in its outer shell. Therefore, it needs 2 more electrons to fill its outer shell.
Carbon has four valence electrons, so it will need four more electrons to fill its outer shell.
4 to fill the 2p shell
A calcium atom will normally lose its two valence electrons, which have principal quantum number 4, to a more electronegative atom when forming a compound. When this happens, the already filled electron shell with principal quantum number 3 becomes the outer shell of the resulting calcium cation, and this cation has the electronic structure of the noble gas preceding calcium in the periodic table, neon
Beryllium will lose 2 electrons to satisfy the octet rule (to fill its outer shell).
Carbon has four valence electrons, so it will need four more electrons to fill its outer shell.
Its atomic number is 7, and so it needs a further 3 electrons to fill its outer shell.
The halogen family tends to gain one electron to fill their outer shell.
The sulfate ion (SO4²-) would have a charge of -2, because it would have gained two electrons to fill its outer shell during ionization.
Carbon needs 4 electrons to fill up its outer shell. It has 4 valence electrons and can achieve a full octet by gaining 4 more electrons.
There is a total of 8 electrons that are needed to fill outer shell of most atoms. An atom is the smallest unit of matter.