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What makes an ion stable or unstable?

What makes an ion stable or unstable?

An atom is stable if the forces among the particles that makeup the nucleus are balanced. An atom is unstable (radioactive) if these forces are unbalanced; if the nucleus has an excess of internal energy. Instability of an atom’s nucleus may result from an excess of either neutrons or protons.

Are ions always stable?

The octet rule states that an atom is most stable when there are eight electrons in its valence shell. Atoms with less than eight electrons tend to satisfy the duet rule, having two electrons in their valence shell. By satisfying the duet rule or the octet rule, ions are more stable.

Are atoms or ions more stable?

If the outermost shell of an atom does not complete octet, it is unstable. So, atoms exist only in two forms either in the form of molecules or ions. Ions are formed when atoms gain or lose electrons to achieve the electronic configuration of its nearest inert gas. So, ions are more stable than atoms.

Why are some atoms unstable?

Why some elements are radioactive (unstable). When the atoms of an element have extra neutrons or protons it creates extra energy in the nucleus and causes the atom to become unbalanced or unstable.

Why are ions so stable?

Why ions are more stable than atoms Thus they are either positively or negatively charged. The atoms do not have completely filled outermost shell . So they lose or gain electrons to attain noble gas configuration and thus stability. Thus the ions are more stable as against the atoms.

Why do atoms become unstable?

When the atoms of an element have extra neutrons or protons it creates extra energy in the nucleus and causes the atom to become unbalanced or unstable. Whether radioactive elements can become stable and if so, how.

Why are ions more stable than its atom?

Which ion is more stable?

– Chelating the effect of ligands also increases the stability of metal ion complexes. – Now for the question, we know that iron has an oxidation state of +3. And since cyanide has the highest stability, we can say that $Fe(CN)_{6}]^{3-}$ is the most stable ion.

Are molecules stable?

In molecular sciences, a molecule consists of a stable system (bound state) composed of two or more atoms. Polyatomic ions may sometimes be usefully thought of as electrically charged molecules.

Why are larger atoms less stable?

Heavier nuclei are less stable—that’s something we all learned in school. Adding more nucleons (protons and neutrons) makes atoms more likely to break apart. The number of protons (labeled Z) determines the chemical element, and the number of neutrons (written as N) determines the isotope.

Why are molecules more stable than atoms?

A molecule as compared to the atoms from which it is formed is more stable because it possesses energy lower than the energy of the uncombined atoms. This difference in energy is due to the fact that when atoms combine to form molecule, the attractive forces are created which result in release of energy.

What are unstable atoms called?

Atom Stability Unstable atoms are also called radioactive actoms and they will lose neutrons and protons as they attempt to become stable.