Valence

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Valence electrons- The electrons that exist farthest from an atom's nucleus.

An atom's chemistry is mostly determined by the number of valence electrons it has.

Atoms in the same column of the periodic chart have the same number of valence electrons and thus have very similar chemistry.

There are certain groups of elements that are rather important in chemistry: noble gases. They have the ideal electron configurations in nature.

The noble gases rarely participate in chemical reactions. Substances like these are called INERT substances.

Octet Rule: Most atoms strive to attain eight valence electrons.

For atoms in 1A-8A, the number of the column in which the atom is located on the periodic chart equals the number of valence electrons the atom has.