Chemical Properties
The noble gases are colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonflammable under standard conditions. They were once labeled group 0 in the periodic table because it was believed they had a valence of zero, meaning their atoms cannot combine with those of other elements to form compounds. However, it was later discovered some do indeed form compounds, causing this label to fall into disuse.
Like other groups, the members of this family show patterns in its electron configuration, especially the outermost shells resulting in trends in chemical behavior:
| Z | Element | No. of electrons/shell |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | helium | 2 |
| 10 | neon | 2, 8 |
| 18 | argon | 2, 8, 8 |
| 36 | krypton | 2, 8, 18, 8 |
| 54 | xenon | 2, 8, 18, 18, 8 |
| 86 | radon | 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 8 |
The noble gases have full valence electron shells. Valence electrons are the outermost electrons of an atom and are normally the only electrons that participate in chemical bonding. Atoms with full valence electron shells are extremely stable and therefore do not tend to form chemical bonds and have little tendency to gain or lose electrons. However, heavier noble gases such as radon are held less firmly together by electromagnetic force than lighter noble gases such as helium, making it easier to remove outer electrons from heavy noble gases.
Read more about this topic: Aerogen
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