Why is the valency of iron is 2 and 3 ..?

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Solution

The valency of an element is the number of electrons it gains or loses or shares to attain the noble gas configuration. ... Also note that the 3d orbital has 1 electron pair, rest of the electrons are unpaired. Now,iron exhibits 2 valence states of +2 and +3. When iron loses the 2 4s electrons, it attains a valency of +2.
Sometimes, iron will also lose one of the paired electrons from 3d orbital, leaving the entire 3d orbital filled with unpaired electrons (which provides a more stable configuration). In this case, its valency will be +3.

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