What type of elements gain electrons

The Periodic Table organizes the elements according to their properties. One atom of each element is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The number of electrons determines how an element reacts. The number of protons gives the element its identity. Look at the different groups for clues to how the elements will react. Noble Gases usually do not react because they do not tend to gain or lose electrons.

How can elements be broken down? How can elements properties be predicted? What is a chemical element? What element in the fourth period of the periodic table has 5 valence electrons? How are chemical elements diffrent from chemical compounds? What does organic chemistry study? How do elements change from left to right in the periodic tabale? See all questions in Elements. Impact of this question views around the world.

You can reuse this answer Creative Commons License. An example of this is the reaction between the metal, sodium, and the non-metal, chlorine. The charges on these anions and cations are stabilized by forming a crystal lattice , in which each of the ions is surrounded by counter ions. The formula for the product, NaCl , indicates the ratio of sodium ions to chloride ions. There are no individual molecules of NaCl. Covalent Bonding Covalent bonding takes place between non-metals. There is no transfer of electrons, but a sharing of valence electrons.

The non-metals all have fairly high ionization energies, meaning that it is relatively difficult to remove their valence electrons. The non-metals also have relatively high electron affinities, so they tend to attract electrons to themselves. So, they share valence electrons with other non-metals. The shared electrons are held between the two nuclei. The formula of covalent compounds represents actual numbers of atoms that are bonded to form molecules, like C 6 H 12 O 6 for glucose.

Covalent species exist as individual molecules. Metallic Bonding Metallic bonding exists between metal atoms. Metals have relatively low ionization energies easily removed electrons but also low electron affinities very little tendency to gain electrons.

So, metals will share electrons. However, it is a different sort of bonding than covalent bonding. Metals share valence electrons, but these are not localized between individual atoms. Instead, they are distributed throughout the metal and are completely delocalized. They are often described as being a "sea" of electrons which flow freely between the atoms. The graphic, below, attempts to show this.

The darker gray spheres are the metal nuclei and core electrons. The lighter gray areas are the loosely held valence electrons, which are effectively shared by all of the metal atoms. Ionic bonding - Lattice Energy Metals and non-metals interact to form ionic compounds. An example of this is the reaction between Na and Cl 2.