Why does the amount of protons in an element wildly change its properties? For example: why is two protons a gas, but suddenly three protons is a metallic solid?
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The protons determine the electric charge of the nucleus, and that determines how many electrons are needed to make a neutral atom.
Due to quantum mechanical effects, there are different energy “shells” that electrons can fill. Shells with higher energy are farther from the nucleus, and so the lowest energy state the atom can be in involves filling the shells from inside to out, and the outermost shell determines the place in the periodic table, and the main properties of the element.
When the outermost shell is full, adding another electron or sharing it with another element is a big step up in energy, since the next available shell is much higher energy. So elements with full outer shells don’t form bonds with other elements very well. They are the noble gasses. Two electrons is a full shell.
Three protons, and therefore three electrons has one electron occupying the outermost shell. This arrangement is highly reactive, since it doesn’t take very much energy to strip away or share the outermost electron.
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