The outer s and p electrons of an atom are referred to as valence electrons . Recall that there are 2 s electrons and 6 p electrons, for a total of 8 valence electrons, hence the name octet rule . They are stable, and for many years, it was assumed that we would never make synthesize a molecule using noble gas atoms.
Atoms undergo change to gain eight valence electrons.
When chlorine gains an electron, its charge becomes -1. Later, we will see that if two atoms both need electrons to achieve an octet, they can share electrons with each other. Copyright 1998 by William L. Dechent. All rights reserved.