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Half-filled orbitals are quite stable because of the electrons' spins being aligned; they resonate and so are stabilised. The same occurs in completely filled shells, except the spins are balanced and negated by the equal numbers spinning in opposite directions; there is no unbalance, and so the orbital is even more stable.

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14y ago
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14y ago

Half-filled orbitals are comprised of electrons that have the same polar spin. This causes the atoms to be able to interact in reactions with other atoms. An atom is generally considered to be unstable if it is an ion or radioactively decaying.

Short answer: open valencies make an atom chemically reactive but not necessarily unstable.

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11y ago

Electrons have a property known as spin. Spin, on the subatomic scale, is not precisely the same thing as spin in the world of visible physical objects, such as a spinning top, although it does have some similarity. Electrons always spin (there is no non-spinning variety) and they always do so at the same speed, and there is only one possible speed (due to quantum mechanical factors) but there are two kinds of spin, clockwise and counterclockwise spin. Since electrons have an electric charge, when they spin, they generate a tiny magnetic field, which naturally has a north pole and a south pole. So, if you line up two electrons so that the north pole of one electron is next to the south pole of the other electron, then opposite poles attract. So, even though electrons repel each other because they have the same charge, they can still have a magnetic attraction toward each other, if they have opposite spin. And any time two electrons are in the same atomic orbital, they will have opposite spin (since an electron can flip over). Now, since both electrons in the orbital are attracted to the positively charged nucleus, that tends to overcome the repulsion that they have toward each other (the nucleus has a larger charge than an electron, except for the hydrogen atom which has only one electron) and if the electrons are also magnetically attracted to each other, then you have greater stability. Subatomic particles go wherever they are attracted most. So electrons form pairs, when possible.

Beyond that, there is the octet rule, stating that an atom is more stable when it has a full outer shell (which is usually 8 electrons, although for hydrogen it can be no electrons at all, as an H+ ion, or it can be two electrons, and several light elements have full electron shells with only two electrons).

I also want to quote this slightly technical explanation, if I may:

The quantum theory of the atom explains the eight electrons as a closed shell with an s2p6 electron configuration. A closed-shell configuration is one in which low-lying energy levels are full and higher energy levels are empty. For example the neon atom ground state has a full n=2 shell (2s2 2p6) and an empty n=3 shell. According to the octet rule, the atoms immediately before and after neon in the Periodic Table (i.e. C, N, O, F, Na, Mg and Al), tend to attain a similar configuration by gaining, losing, or sharing electrons.

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11y ago

half filled electrons are more stable because they spin being aligned.they resonate and get stabilized.the same happens in full filled electrons but they spin nicely and negate .

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13y ago

Fully filled orbitals are more stable. However, a half filled orbital is preferential in regards to the spectroscopic notation. For example, Mo would be [Kr] 4s1 3d5.

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10y ago

As all elctrons are paired up in fully filled orbitals there is no electron is left to pair (react) with other atom/molecule.

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Q: Why completely filled orbitals are more stable?
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Related questions

Which is the most stable out of the two Oxygen or Helium?

Helium is more stable, because it has completely filled valence orbitals.


Which is more active neon or nitrogen?

nitrogen is more reactive. neon has completely filled orbitals and is hence stable and unreactive.


Why the ionization potential of 2-A group is more than the ionization potential of 1-A group?

Completely filled s orbital is more stable than half filled s orbitals and it is difficult to remove electrons from the former due to extra stibility. Group IIA elements (or alkaline earth metals) have completely filled s orbitals, whereas group IA elements have half filled s orbitals.


Why is neon more stable than chlorine?

Neon has completely filled valence orbitals, obeys octet rule and is hence stable. Chlorine needs one more electron to complete octet and is hence reactive.


Are noble gases more likely to exist in nature as molecule or single atom?

Noble gases have completely filled orbitals. Their valence orbitals are completely filled, have 8 electrons and obey octet rule (stable electronic configuration). Hence they are chemically inert (or do not react with other elements), they do generally do not form compounds and are mono atomic.


Are atoms most stable when they have partially filled shells?

no. they are more stable when they have completely filled or half filled shells


Why is helium atom more stable than hydrogen atom?

Hydrogen has 1 proton and 1 electron, helium has 2 protons, 2 neutrons and 2 electrons.


What do halogens and noble gases have very different chemical properties?

Noble gases have completely filled orbitals and are stable. Halogens have 7 valence electrons, they need one more to attain stability and are reactive.


Why are metals more reactive than noble gases?

Noble gases are generally chemically inert, because they have completely filled valence orbitals. However, the nucleii of the heavier ones have a weaker electromagnetic 'hold' on the electrons of their outer shells. This means extremely powerful oxidising agents can react with the heavier noble gases, such as Platinum hexafluoride reacting with Xenon to form Xenon hexafluoroplatinate.


What is the basis for exceptions to the aufbau diagram?

some elements have unusual atomic orbitals


Why ferric ion is more stable than ferrous ion?

In Ferric ion there are 5 electrons in 'd' orbitals so 'd' is half filled which is stable electronic configuration in Ferrous ion 'd' orbitals have 6 electrons.


How many extra valence electrons does helium need to become stable?

Helium has 2 valence electrons and has completely filled orbitals / shells and helium is stable.