Exception to Octet Rule [ENDORSED]

[Ava Kjos 1D]

How do you know when an element can have more than eight electrons? Do we just need to memorize the exceptions or is there some way of figuring it out?

[lindsey_ammann_4E]

The exceptions start in the second row of the p-block, and continue in the rows of the p-block below that.

[Brian Cook]

This is because elements in the 3d row and beyond have n=3 which means L can equal 0,1, and 2 (s,p,d). Elements in the 3rd row actually have access to the d block, allowing them to occupy more electrons, up to 10 more than the octet to be exact. Hope this helps :)

[Lauren Huang 1H]

Some common elements that have expanded octets are sulfur, phosphorus, silicon, and chlorine.