Question

1) Explain why oxygen is a fairly reactive element while neon is not.

2) Explain why beryllium loses electrons when forming ionic bonds, while sulfur gains electrons.

3) Explain why fluorine and chlorine have similar reactivities (Hint. The word "valence" should be somewhere in your answer.)​

Answer 1

The answer to your question is below

Step-by-step explanation:

1) Neon is a noble gas that has 8 electrons in its outermost shell. Atoms are stable when they have 8 electrons in that shell. So Neon does not need to react to become stable.

Oxygen has 6 valence electrons so it needs to gain two electrons to become stable, which makes is why oxygen is fairly reactive.

2.- As I mention before, atoms are stable when they reach 8 electrons in their outermost shell. Beryllium has 2 electrons in that shell so it is easier to lose 2 electrons rather than gain 6 electrons. Sulphur has 6 valence electrons so for it is easier to gain 2 electrons rather than gain 6.

3.- Both fluorine and chlorine are located in the 17th group of the periodic table, elements in the same group have similar chemical and physical properties.