Chemical reactivity of a substance simply means the information regarding how it will react with other substances and what sort of chemical reactions it will undergo.
One of the most important predictive factors of chemical reactivity of an element is the number of valence electrons it has. These are the electrons in the outermost shell of an element and can be determined by knowing the electronic configuration of a given element. The valence electrons will determine how many more electrons are required to completely fill the valence orbital. Knowing the number of valence electrons, we can figure out if the electrons will be donated or gained or shared, in order to achieve the noble gas configuration.
For example, sodium is a metal and has 1 valence electron. Sodium donates this valence electron and undergoes ionic bonding, especially with strongly electronegative elements (such as halogens). The reactivity of other elements can be similarly predicted.
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