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The number of electrons atoms donate or accept or share has to do with the octet rule. The octet rule is a rule of thumb that reflectfalses thethis is not ture increase stability of an atom when it has a complete valence shell (which is usually 8 valence electrons). Therefore, if an electron has one less electron than is necessary to complete its outer valence shell, it will accept an extra electron. The halides, such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine are all missing one electron to reach a stable octet (the noble gas configuration), and all accept one electron. The alkali metals, such as lithium, sodium, potassium and rubidium all lose one electron because they have one more electron than the noble gas configuration.

See the Related Questions for more information about counting valence electrons and the octet rule.

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13y ago
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12y ago

It is called Covalent bonding. Covalent bonding is the sharing/swapping of electrons to gain a full outer shell (8 electrons)

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12y ago

Atoms are more stable when they are sharing or transferring electrons, and they either want to help another atom fill its outer shell with electrons or fill it own outer shell.

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11y ago

D. Bonding gives an atom the same number of electrons as a noble gas.

Just remember all elements want to have a full outer shell of electrons

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Q: Why do atoms share or transfer electrons?
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