What causes chemical bonding?

Bonds are created when atoms share or transfer their outermost electrons (valence electrons). These electrons play a key role in chemical interactions. Atoms bond to become more stable by reaching the inert gas electron configuration. This involves each atom acquiring 8 electrons in the outermost shell and 2 electrons in the K shell. To attain this configuration, atoms can lose electrons by losing one or more electrons to another atom. They can also share electrons by sharing one or more electrons with another atom. Additionally, they can gain electrons by gaining one or more electrons from another atom. Chemical reactions between metals and non-metals involve the transfer of electrons to achieve the noble gas electron arrangement. On the other hand, reactions between nonmetals typically involve sharing electrons.