when is called obey the octet rule?

Question

I know the indenfy of the Octet rule,but stiil don't when is called obey the Octet rule,and when is not?


Thank you

Answer 1

whatever i understood from your question i can answer it in this way that whenever outer shell has 8 electrons in it octet rule is said to be followed.

also lemme add to this that in case of helium and to stabilize lithium and sometimes hydrogen duet rule followed(2 electrons)

Answer 2

When an atom has 8 electrons in its valency shell, even though some may be shared with another atom, the result is more stable (lower energy) than the two separate bits. Once you get further down the periodic table, then this does not always apply - neither does it for the first few elements.