Can the octet rule be broken?

Answer 1

But of course...

and we see that in many molecules, like the trigonal bipyramidal #"PCl"_5#, the octahedral #"SF"_6#, and the square pyramidal #"ClF"_5#. There are many other examples among transition metal complexes that I won't mention.

Here, #10# valence electrons surround phosphorus.

Here, #12# valence electrons surround sulfur.

Here, #12# valence electrons surround chlorine.

This is possible because all three central atoms have access to orbitals on the third quantum level, #n = 3#. In all of these cases, the #3d# orbitals can be used, allowing extra space to store more than #8# total valence electrons.

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Answer 2

Jose Ayala

In some cases, such as expanded octets in elements beyond the second period or in specific transition metal compounds, the octet rule can be broken.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.