An atom of oxygen has six valence electrons. In nature, oxygen is a diatomic molecule and is usually found in the form 02. Why would one atom of oxygen want to bond with another one?
A)
When the oxygen atoms bond together, they become ionized.
B)
They transfer electrons to each other so that they both have a full shell of
valence electrons,
When oxygen atoms share electrons the outer shell of electrons is filled
and each atom becomes more stable.
D)
A single atom of oxygen is very stable and simply joins with another
oxygen atom in order to destabilize both of them.