Sodium has one valence electron and chlorine has 7 valence electrons but both are highly reactive elements. Why?
Answers
Explanation:
Reactivity of a metal depends on the number of valence electrons it has. That is, the number of electrons an atom can share or give during a reaction. This reactivity again depends on how electrons it will take to complete its orbit. For eg: In the 3rd orbit, Sodium has 1 and Chlorine has 7 electrons. Chlorine takes one and Sodium gives one electron each to complete their circle. Atoms of Gold,Platinum etc. already have almost complete circles, thus they don't require to react with others to complete their orbits.
Answer:
Yes, You are right but Sodium needs one eletron and chlorine has to give one electron, So, thats why they are in their excited state. Every element wants to complete it's octet and duplet ( in case of Hydrogen and Lithium ion). The diffrence in both is one is a cation and another is an anion. But, we judge a state of an element with it's valency not from it's valence electrons, and the valency of Chlorine and Sodium is 1. So, this proves that the reactivity of both Sodium and Chlorine are equal.