Why inert gases are unreactive

If an element is extremely unreactive, this suggests that the electron configuration is such that adding or removing electrons is very unlikely. There must be a stable electron configuration that resists further reaction. The Group VIII new group 18 elements are essentially chemically inert light blue column on the right.

All these elements exist as monatomic gases at room temperature. If we look at the electron configurations, we see that helium atomic number 2 has a full shell of two s electrons. Since there are no electrons shielding this shell from the nucleus, these two electrons will be very difficult to remove, making helium unreactive.

The remaining elements in the group have full outer shells consisting of two s electrons and six p electrons for an outer shell content of eight electrons. This particular arrangement renders the atoms fairly unreactive. In more recent years, a number of reactions using the noble gas elements have been discovered. Although the conventional wisdom was that the complete outer shells of these elements would not allow them to react, some scientists believed that the outer electrons of the larger elements such as Rn, Xe, and Kr were far enough away from the nucleus that they should be able to be displaced under the right set of conditions.

The first compound XePtF 6 was made with xenon in Inert gases possess a full valence shell of electrons Explanation: And thus the inert gases, "He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe are difficult to reduce because we have to add electrons to a full valence shell , and difficult to oxidize, because we have to remove electrons from a full valence shell. Related questions What are physical properties of liquids? What are some examples of properties of solids?

What are some examples of properties of liquids? It is also used in metal refining, some "neon" lights argon produces a blue light , some food packaging to provide an inert atmosphere to reduce spoilage , in the tires of some luxury cars in place of air, and in lasers used in eye surgery. Argon is produced by the radioactive decay of potassium; the potassium nucleus undergoes electron capture to produce the stable argon nucleus.

The ratio of potassium to argon in some rocks can be used to determine the age of the rock. Recently, the first argon compound, argon fluorohydride HArF , was reported , which is stable up to 27 K. I'm waiting for hydrogen to be replaced by boron: I think a molecule that spells out "BArF" would be worth investigating.

Or not. Krypton is a colorless, odorless, unreactive gas which liquefies at It is found in the Earth's crust at a concentration of 10 ppt, making it the 81st most abundant element; it is found in the atmosphere at a concentration of 1 ppm by volume.

Krypton which is used commercially is extracted from liquid air by fractional distillation. Krypton was discovered in by Sir William Ramsay and his assistant, Morris Travers, in a sample of argon gas extracted from the atmosphere.

The name "krypton" is derived from the Greek word kryptos , meaning "hidden" which has nothing to do with the home planet of Superman. Krypton is used in some "neon" lights, producing a violet color when electricity is passed through it. Radioactive kyrypton is produced in nuclear reactors and nuclear processing plants; monitoring krypton in the atmosphere allowed the United States to monitor how much nuclear material the Soviet Union was using.

Xenon is a colorless, odorless, unreactive gas which liquefies at It is found in the Earth's crust at a concentration of 2 ppt, making it the 83rd most abundant element; it is found in the atmosphere at a concentration of 90 ppb by volume. Xenon which is used commercially is extracted from liquid air by fractional distillation. Xenon was also discovered by Ramsay and Travers in Chemical properties of the noble gases Compared to other elements , the noble gases are inert - they are extremely unreactive.

Explaining the inertness of noble gases When elements react, their atoms complete their outer shells by losing, gaining, or sharing electrons. You should see that: atoms of group 1 and 7 elements have incomplete outer shells so they are reactive atoms of group 0 elements have complete outer shells so they are unreactive Properties and uses of noble gases The main properties of the noble gases include: they have low densities they are inert, so they are not flammable Many uses of the noble gases are linked to one or more of these properties.

Helium Helium is used as a lifting gas in party balloons and airships. Helium is: less dense than air, so balloons and airships rise non-flammable so the helium cannot set on fire. Helium-filled party balloons.