When is an atom reactive?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

Atoms are especially reactive when they do not have filled electronic orbitals. I don't know how much chemistry you've had, so forgive me if I'm stating anything you know. Atoms are 'happy' when they have filled or half-filled obitals. Think of orbitals as boxes with smaller boxes inside them. each smaller box can hold 2 electrons. The atoms wants to have larger boxesw that are either empty, full, or have one electron in each smaller box.
The why behind all of that is a bit too complicated to go into here.

Sam,
before I attack the main question, allow me to digress and shed a li'l light on the BackGround of why an atom reacts? Okies?
Just like we humans are always wishing for the best and trying to enjoy to our fullest
the teensy-weenzy atoms too want to enjoy a FULL OCTET or a FULL ORBITAL.
You see (or you will see, in the Periodic table, the right-most column i.e. Group VIII or Group0) the atoms try to immatate the structure of the (successful &)NobleGases. So, the rule is:

to have a complete outer most shell (also reffered to as orbital)
(If it is the second # orbital, the desired state is a 'duplet', otherwise, the trend is more towards forming an 'octet' i.e. to have a complete 8 electrons in the outer most shell.)

However, when the poor left-behind atoms do not have a complete outer most shell, they r e a c t with other such atoms(ofcourse, considering a multitude of other factors too )and share their electrons forming a Covalent Bond or else transfer their electrons to acquire the desired state, hence forming an Ionic or Electrovalent Bond.
Pin~Jinx / anarchist

[This message was edited by Pin~Jinx on 02-03-03 at 02:49 PM.]

Pi~jinx... i beleive i explained that "why." The "why" i was refering to is why orbitals are the sizes that they are.

Thanks so much guys..ive had some chemistry but cant remember most of it anymore..