Notes
- The electron cloud is broken into seven layers but not all atoms have seven shells
- The layers are called energy levels or shells
- The first energy level can have up to two electrons and energy levels two through seven can contain up to 8* electrons
- The number of electrons in the outer layer control how or if atoms react with other atoms
- The valence shell is the outer most shell of the atom and the valence electrons are the amount of electrons on the outer most shell
- Atoms tend to combine with other atoms to fill their valence shells
- If a neutral atom's shell is full, then the atom will not react with other atoms
- If a neutral atom's valence shell has space available, then the atom will react with other atoms based on the number of electrons found in the valence shell
- Some atoms gain electrons, some loose electrons, and some share electrons through a chemical process
- When atoms gain electrons they have a negative charge, and when they loose electrons they have a positive charge, and an atom with charge is known as an ion