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The elements neon and argon in Group 0 are unreactive - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry Combined Science - Question 9 - 2019 - Paper 10
Question 9
The elements neon and argon in Group 0 are unreactive. Which statement explains why? A. They all have eight electrons in their outer shells. B. They all have full ou... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The elements neon and argon in Group 0 are unreactive - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry Combined Science - Question 9 - 2019 - Paper 10
Step 1
Which statement explains why?
Answer
The correct answer is B. They all have full outer electron shells.
Explanation:
Neon (Ne) and Argon (Ar) are noble gases, known for their lack of reactivity. This lack of reactivity is primarily due to their electron configurations.
- Full Outer Electron Shells: Both neon and argon have full outer electron shells, which means that their valence shells are complete. For instance:
- Neon has 8 electrons in its outer shell (the maximum for the second energy level) and is stable.
- Argon also has full outer shells with 8 valence electrons (following the octet rule).
This stability due to full shells is what leads to their unreactive nature. Other options do not accurately capture this explanation.