Doesn’t more electrons mean more repulsion?
In: Chemistry
There’s something called the octet rule, it says that for a molecule to be stable it has to have 8 electrons in its last valence shell so it has the same electronic configuration as a noble gas, so when a molecule is formed it has 8 electrons on its last energy level, that’s why noble gases don’t react, because they already have 8 electrons on the last valence shell.
So, all systems end up in states with the lowest energy. Just like rolling down a hill, everything moves towards the lowest possible energy state.
In the case of atoms, there is a base amount of energy in each atom, and when you form a molecule, the total amount of energy is actually lower than just having the free atoms.
Yes, the electrons repel each other, but that’s not the only force at play. There is still an attractive force between the protons of one atom, and the electrons of another. At the point where those balance, you get your lowest energy, and then you have formed a molecule.
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