Radicals [ENDORSED]

[Maria Roman 1A]

How can you tell if a species is a radical?

[Tiffany Chen 1A]

If the total # of electrons is an odd number, then there is a radical.

[ErinKim1I]

Or if you look at the lewis structure an see an electron attached that is not in a pair, you can conclude that the structure is a radical.

[Alexandra Wade 1L]

This means that one electron is not part of a lone pair making the atom unstable. The instability makes the radical so harmful.

[Isobel Tweedt 1E]

Are there any elements that cannot only have one electron attached? Or are there any that are more likely to have just one in a lewis structure?

[Kalsuda Lapborisuth 1B]

This might be slightly out of topic but why is the fact that radical is highly reactive makes radicals harmful?

[Maria Roman 1A]

This might be slightly out of topic but why is the fact that radical is highly reactive makes radicals harmful?

One reason is because radicals have one odd electron that wants to be paired with another electron, so it'll take electrons from anything, including dna or amino acids.