Covalency (Noun)
Meaning
Valence characterized by the sharing of electrons in a chemical compound; the number of pairs of electrons an atom can share.
Classification
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects.
Examples
- The covalency of oxygen in water is two, as it shares two pairs of electrons with hydrogen atoms.
- In a covalent bond, the covalency of each atom is determined by the number of electrons it shares with other atoms.
- The covalency of carbon in methane is four, as it shares four pairs of electrons with hydrogen atoms.
- The concept of covalency was first introduced by Gilbert Lewis in 1916 to describe the sharing of electrons in chemical compounds.
- The covalency of an atom can vary depending on the molecule it is part of, as different molecules may require different numbers of shared electrons.