How does an atom get rid of electrons? [closed]








**Closed**. This question needs to be more [focused](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
 
 






---








**Want to improve this question?** Update the question so it focuses on one problem only by [editing this post](/posts/23993/edit).




Closed 8 years ago.








[Improve this question](/posts/23993/edit) 



I know that if an atom has 4 electrons in its outer shell it will share 4 with other atoms to have a full valence shell. But what if the atom only has 3? I understand that it will likely get rid of three instead of picking up 5 more to share, but how does it get rid of the three? 
Thank you




Atoms with one outer electron (e.g. sodium), called alkali metals, or two outer electrons (e.g. calcium, strontium), called alkaline earths, and even the aluminum-scandium metals are not good at sharing -- they tend to lose their outer electrons given the opportunity, e.g. when a halogen is near. These form *ionic* compounds, such as table salt, in which case the Na+ has given up one electron, which stays close to the Cl- ion. 


Elements in columns closer together don't get away with outright theft, and share their outer electrons more equitably in a covalent bond. 


That said, it's an oversimplification, in that a bond is not necessarily fully ionic or fully covalent and may fall somewhere in between. See <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY2_q-1t2Q8> for a video on this. 


 1