Answer:
Valency of an element is a measure of its combining power with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Carbon has four valence electrons and here a valence of carbon is four.
Electronic configuration of carbon (C = 6) = 1s2 2s2 2p2 = [He] 2s2 2p2
The valency of Carbon depends on the following factors:
- To complete the octet structure, either carbon gains four electrons or lose four electrons.
- However, if Carbon gains electrons then it would be hard for the nucleus to hold four additional electrons as carbon atom is very small in size.
- If Carbon losses its electrons then it required a large amount of energy to remove four electrons of the nucleus.
- Carbon makes four covalent bonds and attains the noble gas configuration by sharing it’s valence electrons.
