Atoms want to have full outer shells.
They will either gain or lose electrons to do this.
If an atom has 1,2 or 3 electrons in it's outer shell it will try to lose electrons, wheras if it has 5,6, or 7 electrons in it's outer shell it will try to gain electrons.
If an atom has 4 electrons in it's outer shell it can either gain or lose electrons.
To gain and lose electrons atoms can either do it through ionic bonding (where a non-metal and metal join together and 'swap' electrons so that they each have full outer shells) or through covalent bonding (where atoms 'share' electrons with other atoms.
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