Chapter 2, Problem 12TYU

Summary Introduction

To counter the argument: “It is ignorant to worry about industry or agriculture contaminating the environment with their chemical wastes. After all, this stuff is just made of the same atoms that were already present in our environment.”

Concept introduction: The chemical reactivity of an element is determined by the presence of unpaired electrons in the outermost shell (or valence cell) and the electrons present in it are called valence electrons. An atom can be chemically inert if they have fulfilled the outermost valence shell. The emergent properties are owing to the arrangement and contacts of atoms or groups of atoms. The properties of compounds are different from the individual elements from which it has formed. A compound is formed by the interaction of two or more dissimilar elements in a definite ratio.