Octet rule

The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that reflects observation that atoms of main-group elements tend to combine in such a way that each atom has eight electrons in its valence shell, giving it the same electronic configuration as a noble gas. The rule is especially applicable to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the halogens, but also to metals such as sodium or magnesium.

The valence electrons can be counted using a Lewis electron dot diagram as shown at the right for carbon dioxide. The electrons shared by the two atoms in a covalent bond are counted twice, once for each atom. In carbon dioxide each oxygen shares four electrons with the central carbon, two (shown in red) from the oxygen itself and two (shown in black) from the carbon. All four of these electrons are counted in both the carbon octet and the oxygen octet.

Ionic bonding is common between pairs of atoms, where one of the pair is a metal of low electronegativity (such as sodium) and the second a nonmetal of high electronegativity (such as chlorine).

A chlorine atom has seven electrons in its outer electron shell, the first and second shells being filled with two and eight electrons respectively. The first electron affinity of chlorine (the energy release when chlorine gains an electron) is +328.8 kJ per mole of chlorine atoms. Adding a second electron to chlorine requires energy, energy that cannot be recovered by formation of a chemical bond. The result is that chlorine will very often form a compound in which it has eight electrons in its outer shell (a complete octet).

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