Why would chemical reactions be impossible if electrons did not exist in the outer shells of atoms?
replied to: PrincessFranz
Replied to: Why would chemical reactions be impossible if electrons did not exist...
A chemical reaction is simply an electrical reaction between atoms/molecules. the imbalance of an atom seeks to balance through an exchange or regrouping of electrons. Without the electrons, or imbalance thereof, there can be no chemical reaction.
replied to: PrincessFranz
Replied to: Why would chemical reactions be impossible if electrons did not exist...
Each element alone has a fixed amount of electrons which may or may not fill their outer shell. If the element has a positive or negative charge due to the proton electron balance, it will combine with another element in order to neutralize its outer shell thus causing a chemical reaction. There exist a few elements that have complete outer shells and thus do not combine with other elements. These are known as inert gases. There are at 4 types of outer shells forming different shapes. The easiest one to comprehend is the s shell which is spherical in shape. The other 3 shells are described as p, d & f shells. The no. of electrons associated with each element is unique to that element and dependent upon the no. of protons in the element. Protons are a positive charge. The nucleus of the element consists of protons and neutrons.
replied to: PrincessFranz
Replied to: Why would chemical reactions be impossible if electrons did not exist...
I thought it was because:
The outer shells must be complete to become stable, so if it wasn't complete then it would be unstable. But then if it had no outer shell/any electrons, would there be an atom in the first place?