Inert
In English, to be
inert is to be in a state of doing little or nothing.
In
chemistry, the term inert is used to describe something that is not chemically active. The
noble gases were described as being inert because they did not
react with the other
elements or themselves. It is now understood that the reason that
inert gases are completely inert to basic
chemical reactions (such as
combustion, for example), is because their outer
valence shell is completely filled with
electrons. With a filled outer valence shell, an inert atom is not able to acquire or lose an electron, and is therefore not able to participate in any chemical reactions.
For example,
elemental nitrogen is inert under standard room conditions and exists as a
diatomic molecule, N
2. The inertness of nitrogen is due to the presence of the very strong triple
covalent bond in the N
2 molecule.
For inert atoms or molecules, a lot of energy is involved before it can combine with other elements to form compounds. A high temperature and pressure is necessary, and sometimes requires the presence of a
catalyst.
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Inerting system
