Why aren`t the noble gases called group 8 elements?

Hello Student,

The noble gases are the members ofgroup18. Noble gases are typically highly unreactive except when under particular extreme conditions.

They are even referred as the "inert gases" due to the fact that they have filled valence shells (octets) which make them extremely non reactive. Since the number of valence electrons gives the information about the group number. So having eight valence electrons they belong to group 18 (except He) not 8.

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Regard
IHE