why do hydrogen atoms combine to form H2 but helium atoms do not combine to form He2
Answers
Atoms combine to form molecules in order to complete their octet and duplet. In case of hydrogen and helium (only) the goal is to combine to form duplet. ... According to the moleculear orbital theory if any compound have 0 bond order then it doesn't exist He2 ,Ne2 type molecule have 0 bond order so they are not exit .
Answer:
On a very simple level - Hydrogen can form a molecule as two hydrogen atoms together can result in a low energy combination of two electrons at the same energy level (but different spin etc); one electron from each Hydrogen atom. In terms of old school electron shells - One Hydrogen atom on it’s own has an empty shell, and therefore to fill the shell it needs another electron.
In the case of Helium, it already has two electrons at the same energy level - so it cannot accept any new electrons i.e. it cannot form new bonds.
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