Why helium and neon do not take part in chemical reactions?

(i) Helium and Neon are both gases and belong to the group of elements called the noble gases.


(ii) Both the elements Helium and Neon have completely filled outermost shells and are fully stable in this state.


(iii) The atomic number of Helium is 2 which means it has only 2 electrons which are present in the K shell and Neon has atomic number 10 and has 10 electrons, its electronic configuration is K = 2, L = 8 electrons.


(iv) As we can see the outermost shells for both the atoms are completely filled so they are not required to share their electrons or share the electrons of other atoms to complete their outermost shell and become stable.


(v) As their last energy shells are full they are inert and does not take part in reactions.


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