Final answer:
A noble gas like Neon or Xenon has 8 outer electrons and is non-reactive. This is because their full outer shells make them stable and unable to incorporate any more electrons into the valence shell. While they do not readily form compounds or interact with other elements, they can be forced into unstable chemical compounds under high pressure and temperature.
Step-by-step explanation:
A noble gas like Neon or Xenon has 8 outer electrons. The noble gas electron configuration for Neon is 1s² 2s²2p6, and for Xenon it is 1s² 2s² 2p6 3s² 3p6 4s² 3d10 4p6 5s² 4d10 5p6 6s² 4f14 5d10 6p6. These noble gases have full outer shells and cannot incorporate any more electrons into the valence shell.
Because noble gases have full outer shells, they are considered non-reactive. Their full outer shells make them stable, so they do not readily form compounds or interact with other elements.
Chemical reactions often involve sharing electrons, but since noble gases have stable electron configurations, they do not readily give up or accept electrons. However, under high pressure and temperature, they can be forced into unstable chemical compounds.