Question

which element would have a full outer shell pf electrons if it gained three electrons
A. Boron
B. Nitrogen
C. Lithium
D. Argon

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 look at the electron configuration of each option:

A. **Boron (B)**: Has 3 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p¹). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have 6 in the outer shell, but the outer shell can only hold 8 for stability (full shell).

B. **Nitrogen (N)**: Has 5 electrons in its outer shell (2s² 2p³). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have 8 in the outer shell (which is full).

C. **Lithium (Li)**: Has 1 electron in its outer shell (2s¹). If it gained 3 electrons, it would have 4 in the outer shell, which is not full.

D. **Argon (Ar)**: Already has a full outer shell with 8 electrons (3s² 3p⁶), so gaining electrons would not be applicable.

The correct answer is **B. Nitrogen**, as gaining three electrons would give it a full outer shell of 8 electrons.

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