Explain the role of electrons in chemical bonding and in relation to the octet rule?

Answer 1

Electrons of an atom occupy areas of space called electron shells or energy levels. Electrons in the shell farthest from the nucleus are the most energetic.

Chemical bonds are energy relationship between valence shell electrons of the reacting atoms. Atoms with eight valence shell electrons are chemically unreactive. Those with an incomplete valence shell interact with other atoms to achieve stability. There are 3 types of chemical bonds: ionic, covalent and hydrogen.

Ionic bonds are formed when valence shell electrons are completely transferred from one atom to another.

Covalent bonds are formed when atoms shared electron pairs. (Equal sharing called nonpolar molecule: unequal - polar).

Hydrogen bonds are weak bonds formed between one hydrogen atom (already covalently linked to electronegative atom) and another electronegative atom (e.q. N, H, and O). They bind together different molecules (e.g. H2O) or different parts of the same molecule (e.q. protein molecules).

Answer 2

Electrons are involved in chemical bonding by forming bonds between atoms. They can be shared, gained, or lost to achieve a stable electron configuration following the octet rule, which states that atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to attain a full outer shell of eight electrons. This leads to the formation of more stable compounds.