octect

[705676154]

Can anyone explain octect and octect rule? Im confused on why/when its used?

[Martha Avila 1I]

Hello! So the octet rule states that for an element to be stable it wants to have 8 electrons which would make it a noble gas. We use the octet rule because the elements need to be stable and to reach that state they need to either gain electrons or lose electrons. Hydrogen and Helium are the two exceptions to the octet rule and these two elements follow the duet rule stating they need 2 electrons to be stable. So we use the octet rule for all elements except Hydrogen and Helium. Hope this helps.

[605778346]

Hi, the octet rule is the idea that atoms prefer to have 8 valance electrons surrounding them. ALthough this always isn't possible, according to however amount of valance electrons you have, the central atom should always have an octet.

[Nika Kononov 3E]

Technically, there's other exceptions to the octet rule other than Helium and Hydrogen. For example, Sulfur, Phosphorus, Silicon, and Chlorine can form expanded octets in which there are more than eight electrons around the central atom.

[Justin An 2L]

Like others have said prior, the octet rule follows the idea that atoms want to have 8 valence electrons, and so will tend to form compounds that give them 8 valence e-s; the reason for 8 is that it completes a full shell, which is the most stable configuration (noble gas config).

[SerenaSabedra]

The octet rule refers to the concept that atoms 'prefer' to have a full valence shell of 8 electrons in order to be more stable. Therefore, in bonding, atoms will try to create a structure that results in all components having a full valence shell of electrons.

[Bobak Pourrahimi 2L]

The octet rule essentially requires that bonding atoms, with the exception of H, He, Li, and Be, to have 8 valence electrons in order to be stable. Other atoms also break the octet rule, however in the manner that they can have more than 8 valence electrons.

[Emily Quill 2H]

Hi! The octet rule says that when drawing a molecule the atoms must all have 8 electrons through either bonding/double bonding or with lone pairs.

[rita_h]

Octet is the eight-electron arrangement in the outer electron shell of the noble-gas atoms. This structure is held responsible for the inertness of the noble gases and the chemical behavior of certain other elements (i.e., noble gases react with other elements because they have the desired eight total s and p electrons in their outermost energy level).
The Octet Rule states that atoms tend to form compounds [electron transfer or electron sharing- ionic or covalent bonds] in ways that give them eight valence electrons and thus the electron configuration of a noble gas. Atoms always seek the most stable electron configuration resembling that of a noble gas. When atoms have fewer than eight electrons, they tend to react and form more stable compounds.

[Elena Chan 2L]

Octet rule ensures that all the atoms in a covalently bonded molecule are able to have a full valence shell by sharing electrons. They all want a full valence shell of 8 electrons like the noble gases since it's the most stable electron arrangement.

[Jason Ho 2L]

An octet means 8, and the octet rule simply means that atoms like to have 8 valence electrons in order to have the electron configuration of noble gases, which are stable. Of course, the octet rule does not apply to the first four elements as they don't have p-orbitals, which would allow for 8 valence electrons.

[Michael Vigman 2D]

On the topic of the octet, remember that the rule only applies steadfastly to atoms that contain the s and p orbital. Because when n=2, there are 4 subshells (8 electrons possible).

Thus, atoms in period 3 or higher have a d- orbital in their valence shell and thus can hold more than 8e- in their valence shell.

Oppositely, elements 1-4 (H, He, Li, Be) are never an octet and Boron (B) sometimes has an octet and sometimes less.

[joshua_quinn_1C]

Hello! The octet rule/guideline basically states that any element within a molecule or bond should have 8 electrons total in its valence shell and within the Lewis Structure. This is because having the 8 electrons in the valence shell makes it more stable. You should use this rule and guideline most of the time when drawing Lewis Structures. However, there are a few exceptions to when you would not follow this guideline which include the first four elements on the periodic table and occasionally Boron.

[Omar Alkhalili 1J]

Hello! The octet rule tells us that an atom is most stable when it has 8 valence electrons, or electrons in its valence/outermost shell. This plays a big role in bonds because each atom is trying to reach that number.

[405716590]

Also the elements that always have an octet are those from carbon to neon

[Maeve Settle 2B]

So the octet rule is used for atoms starting with carbon and ending with atoms in the n=3 energy state. The rule basically applies to valence shells nS^2 npx^2 npy^2 npz^2. However, once you reach n=3 energy level, there are d-orbitals in the valence shell, meaning the atom can take on more than 8 valence electrons if necessary. We see this on phosphorous in PCl5. Additionally, the first 4 element on the periodic table do not form octets, so they are another exception to this rule. Since there are so many exceptions to the octet rule, it's really better to call it the octet guideline. Hope this helps!

[Clarence Clavite 2K]

Generally, the octet rule is a guideline when working with atoms above boron. Atoms such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine are always going to get an octet, so when we create lewis structures of these we try to get them each an octet. It's a guideline because there are realistically many exceptions to the rule. Hope this helps!

[Aashna Bhandari 1L]

The octet guideline says that atoms generally prefer to have a full voucher valence shell of 8 electrons. This is usually applicable to elements above Boron.

[Shiley_David_1D]

Can anyone explain octect and octect rule? Im confused on why/when its used?

Hello!

Another resource for chemistry explanations that I enjoy is chem.libretexts.org. According to them, the octet rule refers to the tendency of atoms to prefer to have eight electrons in the valence shell. When atoms have fewer than eight electrons, they tend to react and form more stable compounds. When discussing the octet rule, we do not consider d or f electrons. Only the s and p electrons are involved in the octet rule, making it useful for the main group elements (elements not in the transition metal or inner-transition metal blocks); an octet in these atoms corresponds to an electron configurations ending with s2p6. The rule in itself is that a stable arrangement is attended when the atom is surrounded by eight electrons. This octet can be made up by own electrons and some electrons which are shared. Thus, an atom continues to form bonds until an octet of electrons is made.

Hope this helps!

[Rio Gagnon 1G]

The octet rule explains that atoms want to fill their outer shell to achieve noble gas configuration so that they are most stable by either gaining or losing electrons to obtain a total of 8 electrons. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, notably H, He, Li, and Be.

[Ivy Vo Dis 1C]

The octet rules states that an atom will be at its most stable form when it has a full outer shell. This means that the atoms would have eight valence electrons, hence the octet rule. However, there are specific elements that can defy the octet rule. For example, Hydrogen and Helium only need two electrons to fill their outer shell. Additionally, some elements (such as Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Fluorine) are able to expand their shell to hold more than eight valence electrons.

[Benicio Rivera 1F]

The octet rule states that atoms tend to form compounds in ways that give them eight valence electrons and thus the electron configuration of a noble gas. An exception to an octet of electrons is in the case of the first noble gas, helium, which only has two valence electrons.

[Michelle Argueta 1E]

The octet rule is when elements come together to form compounds in order to obtain 8 valence electrons (complete stability) which becomes equivalent to the electron configuration of a noble gas.

[Valerie M Dis 2E]

The octet rule refers to the tendency of atoms to prefer to have eight electrons in the valence shell. It allows us to determine the atomic structure of most chemicals.

[LukeYing_3H]

The octect rule is essentially saying that having 8 lone pair/bonded valence electrons is what is necessary for an atom to be in its most stable state

[Prithvi Raj 3E]

The octet rule states that most atoms strive to have 8 electrons in their valence shell. This explains the behavior of a lot of elements. For instance, your noble gasses don't have any electron affinity as they don't want another electron - their octet is filled. Your elements before the noble gasses have a higher electron affinity as they are close to filling their octet. Of course, there are some exceptions to the octet rule as we learned in class.

[Acharya Ranawat 3E]

The octet rule means the atom will get 8 electrons through other atoms sharing electrons with it. This doesn’t have to happen with elements like Sulfur, Phosphorous, and Chlorine which have expanded octets. Hope this helps!

[Sam Forster 2J]

The octet and the octet rule refer to a guideline for bonding. Generally it means every atom wants an outer shell of 8 valence electrons. However, in practice this is not always the case. This is because the octet rule is based off of only the s, px, py, and pz orbital states of electrons (2 electrons per orbital state for a total of 8 electrons) so technically sometimes an atom can have more electrons than 8 in an a valence shell if they have access to a d orbital or f orbital. This is why Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Fluorine always have 8 electrons as they don't have access to that d orbital. Hope this helps!

[Jayden Tan 2L]

Hello!

An octet refers to an atom needing 8 electrons in their valence shell. Like many of your peers have already said, it is dependent on the orbitals and which elements you are examining. Hope this short description helps!!