What does the chemical symbol represent in an electron dot diagram?
Certain electron arrangements are more stable than others. An understanding of the Periodic Table allows us to predict the bonding characteristics of atoms. Metals, the left side of the table, tend to lose valence electrons easier than nonmetals. Compounds formed between these two types of elements should tend to form ionic bonds. Some of the nonmetals, the right side of the table, form compounds with each other. Since these elements have somewhat similar traits, they should tend to form covalent bonds. It is important to understand that chemical bonding is never totally ionic or totally covalent. Chemical bonds will have some traits of each type of bond. Many times, bond type is expressed as a percentage of each type of bond. Almost all chemical reactions occur between electrons in the outer energy level of atoms. For that reason, the outer energy level will be the only one considered here. The most stable atoms – their outer energy level is full. Somewhat stable atoms – the sublevels
