Question

Both oxygen and neon are gases at room temperature. Oxygen combines readily with other elements, but neon does not. Why?"

a) Neon is inert
b) Neon is a noble gas
c) Neon has a full valence shell
d) Neon is highly reactive

Answer 1

Neon does not combine readily with other elements because it is a noble gas with a full valence shell, making it inert and unreactive under normal conditions.

Step-by-step explanation:

Both oxygen and neon are gases at room temperature, but they have very different chemical reactivity. The reason neon does not combine readily with other elements is that it is a noble gas with a full valence shell. Elements in Group 18 of the periodic table, known as the Noble Gases which include helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon, are characterized by their complete outer electron shells making them highly stable and unreactive.

This full valence shell means that neon has no tendency to gain or lose electrons, making it nearly unreactive under normal conditions. Therefore, the answer to why neon does not combine readily with other elements is that it has a full valence shell, which makes it inert.