Chemical Reactivity
1) What part of the atom is involved in regular chemical reactions? Why? Answer: Electrons because they are constantly moving! 2) More specifically, which electrons are involved in chemical reactions? Why? Answer: valence electrons because they are in the outermost energy level
3) What determines how reactive an element will be? Answer: # of valence electrons; more unstable they are, the more reactive they will be!
Reactivity Rules for Metals
Example Rank the following metals in order from most to least reactive. Ni, Na, Au, Ca, Ag Answer: Na, Ca, Ni, Ag, Au
Reactivity for Nonmetals
Example Rank the following nonmetals in order from most to least reactive. F, O, Cl, P Answer: F, Cl, O, P