Answer to Question #11206 in Physical Chemistry for chaitanya harsha

Question

what is a valency?

Answer 1

In chemistry, valence, also known as valency or valence number, is a measure of the number of bonds formed by an atom of a given element. "Valence" can be defined as the number of valence bonds a given atom has formed, or can form, with one or more other atoms. For most elements the number of bonds can vary. The IUPAC definition limits valence to the maximum number of univalent atoms that may combine with the atom, that is the maximum number of valence bonds that is possible for the given element.
The valence of an element depends on the number of valence electrons that may be involved in the forming of valence bonds. A univalent (monovalent) atom, ion or group has a valence of one and thus can form one covalent bond. A divalent molecular entity has a valence of two and can form two sigma bonds to two different atoms or one sigma bond plus one pi bond to a single atom. Alkyl groups and hydroxyl ions are univalent examples; oxo ligands are divalent.
For elements in the main groups of the periodic table, the valence can vary between one to seven, but usually these elements form a number of valence bonds between one and four. The number of bonds formed by a given element was originally thought to be a fixed chemical property. In fact, in most cases this is not true. For example, phosphorus often has a valence of three, but can also have other valences.