Why are non metals non reactive with acids and bases?
The reason nonmetals are typically nonreactive with acids is because this reaction implies reduction of the proton to H2 and oxidation of the other species, in our case the nonmetal. Nonmetals tend to gain electrons (get reduced) rather than to lose them because by doing so they can achieve a noble-gas configuration with relatively small number of electrons. Typically nonmetals will have to lose 4 or more electrons to achieve a noble gas configuration, therefore it’s easier to gain 4 or less electrons to achieve this goal. However, it is worth pointing out that compounds of nitrogen (like ammonia) are basic and will react with acid. Reaction with bases do occur with certain nonmetals, the most obvious example are complexes of boron, but this has to do with the fact that boron has an empty p orbital available for bases to donate their electrons to. This same concept is the reason metals also react with bases; they have empty p or d orbitals. In conclusion, the statement given above is t
