Octet Rule?

[Hunter Rosales 2C]

Hey guys. In my discussion section we were able to go over the octet rule in depth which I really appreciated on my TA's part. However, I guess I am wondering if this question is applicable to the rule. How come Boron and Al do not need 8 in order to satisfy their orbitals? How come they can only be satisfied with 3?

[Olivia Willis 2H]

Hello, so from what I understand, boron and aluminum don't need to adhere to the octet rule because they don't obtain any formal charge without having more electrons. This allows them to be stable despite not having an octet. I hope this was at least somewhat helpful.

[306365025]

Hi Hunter,

From my understanding, Boron and Aluminum are in row 13, meaning they have 3 electrons. And since they're both tiny, they don't require too many more electrons. While they may not need all 8, they would still try and get a pair for each valence electron that they have.