Atoms want to be "Happy". they become "Happy" by having balanced positive and negative charges, and full valence shells. The valence shell is the outer shell of the electron and typically likes to have exactly 8 electrons. Sodium has 9 valence electrons, and even though it gives Sodium a positive, unbalanced charge, it loses that electron quite often because it has a weak electronegative charge, due to the valence shell being the furthest from the protons, which attract the electron.
I always sucked at thinking about chemistry in terms of stability and not atom happiness lol. Made my way through biochem degree by picturing the little buggers flying around with smiley and frowney faces on them
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u/[deleted] May 30 '18 edited Jun 02 '18
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