Question

What states that atoms tend to gain, lose or share electrons until they are surrounded by eight valence electrons?

Answer 1

The `"octet rule"`, which is more a rule of thumb than an actual chemical principle.

Explanation:

Main-group elements tend to form compounds in which the participating atoms are surrounded by `"8 electrons"`. There are many exceptions to the rule, but often we can rationalize the chemistry of the exceptions in terms of filling the valence shell of the participating atoms with 8 electrons.