Question

What is valency? Explain it with an example.

Answer 1

Valency:

• It is defined as the combining power or the capacity of an atom of an element with other atoms or elements.
• It is also defined as the number of electrons an atom of a particular element can accept or donate to combine chemically with other atoms of other elements in order to form different chemical compounds or molecules in order to attain a stable noble gas configuration.
• Valency of an element is always a whole number.
• Valency of an element can be determined by knowing its electronic configuration.

For Example:

• The atomic number of Sodium is 11. It's electronic configuration is 2,8,1.
• There is only 1 electron present in the valence shell of Sodium. So, it will donate its 1 electron in order to attain a stable noble configuration.

Therefore, the valency of Sodium is 1.