Question
Which element would have a full outer shell of electrons if it gained three electrons? (1 point)
Responses
boron
boron
nitrogen
nitrogen
argon
argon
lithium
Responses
boron
boron
nitrogen
nitrogen
argon
argon
lithium
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
To determine which element would have a full outer shell of electrons if it gained three electrons, we need to consider the electron configurations of the given elements.
- **Boron (B)** has 3 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p¹). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have 6 electrons, which is still not a full shell.
- **Nitrogen (N)** has 5 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p³). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have a total of 8 electrons, which fills its outer shell (2s² 2p⁶) to achieve stability.
- **Argon (Ar)** already has a full outer shell with 8 electrons (3s² 3p⁶), so gaining more electrons is not necessary for argon.
- **Lithium (Li)** has 1 electron in its outer shell (2s¹). Gaining 3 electrons would give it a total of 4, which is still not a full shell.
Therefore, the correct answer is **nitrogen**.
- **Boron (B)** has 3 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p¹). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have 6 electrons, which is still not a full shell.
- **Nitrogen (N)** has 5 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p³). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have a total of 8 electrons, which fills its outer shell (2s² 2p⁶) to achieve stability.
- **Argon (Ar)** already has a full outer shell with 8 electrons (3s² 3p⁶), so gaining more electrons is not necessary for argon.
- **Lithium (Li)** has 1 electron in its outer shell (2s¹). Gaining 3 electrons would give it a total of 4, which is still not a full shell.
Therefore, the correct answer is **nitrogen**.