What is ATOMIC VALENCY?
And how to find atomic VALENCY on any atom?
The valency of an atom is simply equal to the number of electrons gained, lost, or shared by an atom to achieve the nearest noble gas configuration.
Valency is the combining power of an element. Elements in the same group of the periodic table have the same valency. The valency of an element is related to how many electrons are in the outer shell.
We can find the valency of an element through its atomic number and its electronic configuration.
For instance,
In Boron with atomic number 5, the configuration stands out to be 2,3 and it has 3 electrons in its outermost shell. Being a metal Boron has a tendency to lose its electrons to gain noble gas configuration and shows its valency 3.
Whereas in Fluorine with atomic number 9, the configuration stands out to be 2,7 and it has 7 electrons in its valence shell and needs to gain 1 more electron to achieve noble gas configuration and hence its valency is 1.