🎯 Current Mission
Welcome, Scientist! Your first mission is to understand how sodium gives away its outer electron to chlorine, forming table salt (NaCl).
💡 Hint: Click on an element that tends to LOSE electrons (metals on the left), then click one that GAINS electrons (nonmetals on the right).
🔬 Atomic View
?
Select an element to see its electron configuration
📚 Chemistry Notes
Why do electrons move?
Atoms want a full outer shell (usually 8 electrons — the octet rule). Metals on the left side of the table have 1–3 valence electrons and tend to lose them. Nonmetals on the right need 1–3 more electrons to fill their shell, so they gain them.
When an electron moves from a metal to a nonmetal, both atoms become ions with opposite charges — and opposites attract, forming an ionic bond!
Atoms want a full outer shell (usually 8 electrons — the octet rule). Metals on the left side of the table have 1–3 valence electrons and tend to lose them. Nonmetals on the right need 1–3 more electrons to fill their shell, so they gain them.
When an electron moves from a metal to a nonmetal, both atoms become ions with opposite charges — and opposites attract, forming an ionic bond!