The conversation between human and AI assistant.
Why does each element only react with certain elements? What causes this? Why does carbon only react with some elements?
That makes sense. What about other elements that are more reactive, like sodium or chlorine? Why do they react with so many other elements?
Sodium is a highly reactive metal that readily loses its single valence electron to form a stable cation with a full octet of electrons in its outermost energy level. Chlorine, on the other hand, is a nonmetal that has a strong tendency to gain one electron to form a stable anion with a full octet of electrons.