These elements were considered to be inert gases, as they have a closed-shell configuration, until the 1960's, because their oxidation number of 0 prevents the noble gases from forming compounds readily. This was found to be incorrect in 1962 when Neil Bartlett succeeded in making the first complex xenon compound.
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Our contributors said this page should be displayed for the questions below. ... Why are all noble gases inert? Whay are the noble gases inert? Why are the lightest gases inert? Why are argon called inert gases? Noble gases are inert which means? Are the inert gases very reactive? Inert gases in a chemical reaction?
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because its s and p orbitals are full of electrons, for this reason noble gases don't gain or lose electrons to form ions.
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THE NOBLE INERT GASES ... We love the inert gases. Some scientists used to call them the noble gases. These gases are another family of elements, and all of them are located in the far right column of the periodic table. For all of you budding chemists, the far right is also known as Group Zero (Group 0) or Group...
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In the last 40 years, scientists have only been able to form compounds from noble gases a handful of times. These chemical outcasts were once thought incapable of forming bonds with other elements, and until the 1960s were considered completely inert.
www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/noblegas.htm www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/noblegas.htm
THE INERT GASES ... ABSTRACT: By exposing compressed inert gases to magnetic and electric stimulation, biological effects have been observed. Some background and review of the subject is presented, and case histories described briefly.
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A substance that does not undergo chemical reactions (such as the noble gases) is said to be inert. A complex whose ligands are slowly replaced (low-spin d^6, low-spin d^5, low-spin d^4, d^3) is also called inert. ... A substance that does not undergo chemical reactions (such as the noble gases) is said to be inert.
scienceworld.wolfram.com/chemistry/Inert.html scienceworld.wolfram.com/chemistry/Inert.html
The noble gases were usually said to be inert as they did not react with any other elements or even with them selves. It was later on stated that the reason that inert gases are entirely inert to fundamental chemical reactions because their exterior valence shell is totally filled with electrons.
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Travers discovered three Noble gases. They were krypton, xenon, and neon. The two scientists isolated the elements from liquid air by cooling air to very low temperatures ... The newgases they discovered were inert. and all Noble Gases are said to be "inert". Inert means does not normally react with anything else.
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     Molecules are the smallest particles of matter that have independent existence.  Molecules may consist of single atoms in the case of the noble gases, whose atoms will not normally combine chemically with each other or with atoms of other elements.  Noble gases are said to be inert.
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