Why are noble gases inert?

Noble gases are inert for a simple reason - Their outer electron shells are already full. Generally, the more empty the outer electron shell, the more reactive the element. Helium has two(2) electrons, and is thus full, all the other noble elements has eight (8) electrons in it's outer electron shell, so they are also full. read more

From Noble gas compound - Wikipedia: “When the family of noble gases was first identified at the end of the nineteenth century, none of them was observed to form any compounds and it was initially believed that they were all inert gases (as they were then known) which could not form compounds. read more

More About the Noble Gas Elements. The last column of elements in the periodic table are the noble gases. They are called Group 18, the inert gases, the rare gases, the helium family, or the neon family. There are 7 elements in this group: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon. These elements are gases at ordinary room temperature and pressure. read more