valence

1. Chemistry.
   1. The combining capacity of an atom or radical determined by the number of electrons that it will lose, add, or share when it reacts with other atoms.
   2. A positive or negative integer used to represent this capacity: The valences of copper are 1 and 2.
2. The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.
3. The ability of a substance to interact with another or to produce an effect.
4. Psychology. The degree of attraction or aversion that an individual feels toward a specific object or event.
5. Linguistics. The number of arguments that a lexical item, especially a verb, can combine with to make a syntactically well-formed sentence, often along with a description of the categories of those constituents. Intransitive verbs (appear, arrive) have a valence of one-the subject; some transitive verbs (paint, touch), two-the subject and direct object; other transitive verbs (ask, give), three-the subject, direct object, and indirect object.
6. The capacity of something to unite, react, or interact with something else: "I do not claim to know much more about novels than the writing of them, but I cannot imagine one set in the breathing world which lacks any moral valence" (Robert Stone).

[Latin valentia, capacity, from valēns, valent-, present participle of valēre, to be strong.]

A term commonly used by chemists to characterize the combining power of an element for other elements, as measured by the number of bonds to other atoms which one atom of the given element forms upon chemical combination. The term also has come to signify the theory of all the physical and chemical properties of molecules that specially depend on molecular electronic structure.

Thus, in water, H₂O, the valence of each hydrogen atom is 1; the valence of oxygen, 2. In methane, CH₄, the valence of hydrogen again is 1; of carbon, 4. In NaCl and CCl₄ the valence of chlorine is 1, and in CH₂ the valence of carbon is 2. See also Chemical bonding.

Most of the simple facts of valence (though certainly not all) follow from the postulate that atoms combine in such a way as to seek closed-shell or inert-gas structures (rule of eight) by the transfer of electrons between them or the sharing of a pair of electrons between them. Many molecular structures may be obtained by inspection using these rules; letting a dot represent an electron:

As generally used and here defined, the word valence is ambiguous. Before a value can be assigned to the valence of an atom in a molecule, the electronic structure of the molecule must be exactly known, and this structure must be describable simply in terms of simple bonds. In practice neither of these conditions is ever precisely fulfilled. A term not so ambiguous is oxidation number or valence number. Oxidation numbers are useful for the balancing of oxidation-reduction equations, but they are not related simply to ordinary valences. Thus the valence of carbon in CH₄, CHCl₃, and CCl₄ is 4; oxidation numbers of carbon in these three substances are −4, +2, and +4. See also Electronegativity; Molecular orbital theory; Oxidation-reduction.

For more information on valence, visit Britannica.com.

A number characterizing an atom, equal to the number of valence electrons.

The relative combining capacity of an atom in relation to hydrogen, which has a valence of 1. Some elements, such as iron, sometimes have more than one valence (ferrous, Fe +2 , and ferric, Fe +3 ), so that you can get either FeO, or Fe 2 O 3 .

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - valens

idioms:

• valence electron    valenselektron

2.
n. - flæse, gardinkappe, hyldebort, omhæng, skærmkant

Nederlands (Dutch)
verenigingskracht van atoom, reactiekracht (biologie), aantrekkingskracht

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Chim, Ling) valence

idioms:

• valence electron    électron de valence

2.
n. - tour de lit, lambrequin, cantonnière

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Wertigkeit, Valenz

idioms:

• valence electron    Valenzelektron

2.
n. - kurzer Behang, Volant

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (βιολ., χημ.) σθένος

idioms:

• valence electron    ηλεκτρόνιον σθένους

Italiano (Italian)
valenza, drappeggio

idioms:

• valence electron    elettrone di valenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - valência (f) (Quím.) (Biol.)

idioms:

• valence electron    elétron de valência

Русский (Russian)
валентность, лекарство из трав, доблесть

idioms:

• valence electron    валентный электрон

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - valencia

idioms:

• valence electron    electrón de valencia

2.
n. - cenefa, doselera

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - valens, atomvärde (tekn.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
价, 原子价

idioms:

• valence electron    原子价电子

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 價, 原子價

idioms:

• valence electron    原子價電子

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - (화학) 원자가, (염색체의 결합) 수가, 유의성

2.
n. - 밸런스, 드리운 천

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 原子価, 結合価, ヴァランス, 掛け布

idioms:

• valence electron    価電子

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) وحدة قدرة اتحاد الذرات‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮איות אחר למילה YNCELAV‬
n. - ‮איות אחר למילה ECNALAV‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.