Noble gases
Group VIII — the noble gases
- The noble gases are unreactive, monatomic gases (single atoms, not molecules).
- They are unreactive because they already have a full outer shell of electrons.
- A full shell is stable, so they don't need to gain, lose or share electrons.
Practice
Noble gases exist as:
Noble gases are monatomic — they exist as single, separate atoms.
Practice
Noble gases are unreactive because they have:
A full, stable outer shell means they don't need to gain, lose or share electrons.
Practice
A full outer electron shell makes the noble gases very stable and unreactive.
The full outer shell is the reason for their lack of reactivity.
You've got it
Key idea
- noble gases (Group VIII) are monatomic and unreactive
- the reason: a full outer shell of electrons (very stable)
- so they don't gain, lose or share electrons