Valency

Combining power of atoms

Valency of different elements

Valency (historical meaning) - no. of bonds to be formed by an atom. Historically, the values are deduced from the formulas of some chemicals. e.g. H2O, CH4, HCl, NH3, H2, HF, H2S, PH3, SiH4, HBr, Cl2

Valency deduction exercise

Deduce the valency of each kind of atom from the following formulas. H2O, CH4, HCl, NH3, H2, HF, H2S, PH3, SiH4, HBr, Cl2
H O C Cl N F S P Si Br

Atom Valency

Valency deduction exercise

Deduce the valency of each kind of atom from the following formulas. H2O, CH4, HCl, NH3, H2, HF, H2S, PH3, SiH4, HBr, Cl2
H 1 O C Cl N F S P Si Br

Atom Valency

Valency deduction exercise

Deduce the valency of each kind of atom from the following formulas. H2O, CH4, HCl, NH3, H2, HF, H2S, PH3, SiH4, HBr, Cl2
H 1 O 2 C 4 Cl 1 N 3 F 1 S 2 P 3 Si Br 4 1

Atom Valency

Valency of some atoms

Valency 1 2 3 4

Atom

H F Cl Br

O S

N P

C Si

Positions of the first 20 Elements

Positions of the first 20 Elements

Is there any connection between the position of an element in the periodic table and the valency of the atom ?

Yes Except H, the valency of an atom is the same as (8 group no.) of the atom. i.e. Extra no. of electrons required to fill the outermost shell.

Valency of different elements

Valency - no. of bond to be formed

Real meaning of valency

Valency of chlorine : 1 Formula of chlorine molecule : Cl2

Covalent bond formation by electron sharing

co- means together; jointly; -valent means outermost shell A non-metal atom can form bond by sharing outermost shell electrons with another atom.

Electrostatic nature of covalent bond

e l e c t r o s t a t i c e l e c t r o s t a t i c a t t r a c t i o n a t t r a c t i o n n e g a t i v e b o n d i n g e l e c t r o n s

p o s i t i v e n u c l e u s

p o s i t i v e n u c l e u s

No. of electrons to be shared

No. of electrons to be shared = No. of electrons required to fill the outermost shell = 8 - no. of electrons present = 8 - group no. Exception : H has only 1 electron to share.

No. of electrons to be shared

No. of electrons to be shared by group VII atom e.g. F, Cl, Br, I = 8 - 7 = 1 No. of electrons to be shared by group VI atom e.g. O, S =8-6=2 No. of electrons to be shared by group V atom e.g. N, P =8-5=3 No. of electrons to be shared by group IV atom e.g. C, Si =8-4=4

No. of electrons to be shared

Each electron to be shared can be considered as a hand to join with other atoms. For a stable molecule, all hands have to be held together i.e. all atoms have completely filled outermost shell.

Real meaning of valency

Valency of an atom = no. of bond to be formed = no. of electrons to be shared = 8 group no.

Not all compounds are made of molecules, some have electrically charged groups of atoms called ions.

One of these is aluminium sulphate, known as alum, whose formula is Al2(SO4)3 and which contains positive aluminium ions and negative sulphate ions, the SO4 part of the formula.

There are a small number of these polyatomic ions whose formula we will need to know. Their names may be familiar:sulphate nitrate SO42NO3-

carbonate CO32-

hydroxide OH

where the negative signs indicate the electrical charge

The question now is:How do we know how many of each atom are needed?.

The question now is:How do we know how many of each atom are needed?. It turns out that atoms of each element (or poly-atomic ion) have a number associated with them which determines how they all link up together. This is sometimes called the valency or valence.

H hydrogen C carbon N nitrogen O oxygen Na sodium Mg magnesium Al aluminium Si silicon P phosphorus S sulphur

+1 4 -3 -2 +1 +2 +3 4 -3 -2

Cl chlorine -1 K potassium +1 Ca calcium +2 Cr chromium +3 Fe iron +2 or +3 Cu copper +2 Zn zinc +2 Br bromine -1 Ag silver +1 I iodine -1

What a difficult set of numbers to learn! Or are they?

Lets re-arrange the list

H Na K Mg Ca Al hydrogen +1 sodium +1 potassium +1 magnesium +2 calcium +2 aluminium +3 Cl Br I O S P N C Si NO3 OH CO3 SO4 chlorine -1 bromine -1 iodine -1 oxygen -2 sulphur -2 phosphorus -3 nitrogen -3 carbon 4 silicon 4 nitrate hydroxide carbonate sulphate -1 -1 -2 -2

Cr Fe Cu Zn Ag

chromium +3 iron +2 or +3 copper +2 zinc +2 silver +1

So how do we use this table? Here are a few simple steps to follow in going from a compounds name to its formula:Ill use calcium chloride as a example 1 write the symbols implied by the name Ca and Cl (compounds of two elements usually have a name ending in ide, for three elements its usually -ate) 2 Find the numbers on the list Ca +2 and Cl -1 3 The rule now is that The numbers in the compound must add to zero. one Ca (+2) and two Cl (-1) will add to 0. 4 And so the formula is CaCl2

Now lets try aluminium iodide 1 Al and I

Now lets try aluminium iodide 1 Al and I 2 Al +3 and I -1

Now 1 2 3

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

sodium oxide

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

sodium oxide 1 Na and O

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

sodium oxide 1 Na and O 2 Na +1 and O -2

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

sodium oxide 1 Na and O 2 Na +1 and O -2 3 this time we need two Na for one

Now 1 2 3 4

lets try aluminium iodide Al and I Al +3 and I -1 one Al will need 3 I formula is AlI3

sodium oxide 1 Na and O 2 Na +1 and O -2 3 this time we need two Na for one
4 formula is Na2O

Now lets try aluminium iodide 1 Al and I 2 Al +3 and I -1 3 one Al will need 3 I 4 formula is AlI3 sodium oxide 1 Na and O 2 Na +1 and O -2 3 this time we need two Na for one 4 formula is Na2O

notice that in the name and the formula, the metal or hydrogen (things which have the positive numbers) come first.

A few more examples 3 calcium sulphate 1 Ca and SO4

A few more examples 3 calcium sulphate 1 Ca and SO4 2 Ca +2 and SO4 -2

A few more examples 3 calcium sulphate 1 Ca and SO4 2 Ca +2 and SO4 -2 3 one Ca for one SO4

A few more examples 3 calcium sulphate 1 Ca and SO4 2 Ca +2 and SO4 -2 3 one Ca for one SO4 4 formula is CaSO4

A few more examples 3 calcium sulphate

1 2 3 4 Ca and SO4 Ca +2 and SO4 -2 one Ca for one SO4 formula is CaSO4

magnesium hydroxide 1 Mg and OH 2 Mg is +2 and OH -1 3 one Mg for two OH 4 formula is Mg(OH)2

5 Aluminium carbonate 1 Al and CO3 2 Al +3 and CO3 -2 3 two Al for three CO3 4 formula is Al2(CO3)3

5 Aluminium carbonate
1 2 3 4

Al and CO3 Al +3 and CO3 -2 two Al for three CO3 formula is Al2(CO3)3

All these examples have had a metal as one part of the compound. If two non metals combine life is a bit more complicated.

Aluminium carbonate 1 Al and CO3 2 Al +3 and CO3 -2 3 two Al for three CO3 4 formula is Al2(CO3)3

All these examples have had a metal as one part of the compound. If two non metals combine life is a bit more complicated. We often need to just make sure that the numbers are equal for each element. It is easier than that all sounds!

1 Silicon dioxide

Lets work out some examples

1 Silicon dioxide 1,2 Si 4, O 2

1 Silicon dioxide 1,2 Si 4, O 2 3 to make the values equal we would need two O for each Si

Silicon dioxide 1,2 Si 4, O 2 3 to make the values equal we would need two O for each Si 4 SiO2, quartz

Try
Hydrogen nitride (usually called ammonia)
1,2 H 1, N 3 3 for equal values we need three H for each N 4 NH3, ammonia

3 Phosphorus oxide 1,2 P 3 and O 2 3 To make these the same for each element we need 2 P and 3 O 4 P2O3

You should now be able to write the formula for several hundred compounds. You will find that the number associated with each element is easy to remember with a bit of practice.

Writing Formulae.

Formulae of compounds can be written using either 1. The name of the compound. mono di tri tetra penta means means means means means one two three four five

If any of these prefixes appears in the name of the compound we use this to write the formula. e.g. carbon monoxide is CO carbon dioxide is CO2

2.

Using Valency Rules

If the name does not give any clues about the formula, we use valency rules. e.g. sodium oxide

write symbols
write valency cross over valency

Na
1 2 Na2O

O
2 1

cancel if necessary
write formula

Note:- For transition metals the valency is usually written as a Roman numeral in brackets after the name of the transition metal e.g. In iron(III) oxide, the iron has a valency of 3.

 3. Formulae involving Complex (group) Ions

If the name of the compound ends in -ate or ite , it contains a complex ion (watch also for hydroxide). Complex ions are found in your data book (p4). e.g. Copper(II) nitrate

write symbols or formula NO3write valency 1 (for complex ions, this is the charge) 2

Cu

 4. Formulae Showing Charges

Sometimes you are asked to show the formula with charges (ionic formula)

e.g.

sodium carbonate
Na

write symbols or formula CO32write valency (for complex ions, this is the charge) cross over valency 1

Calculations for you to try. 1. Write the formula for:SO3 N2O

(a) Sulphur trioxide (b) Dinitrogen monoxide

(c) Phosphorus pentachloride PCl5

(d)
2.

Carbon terachloride.
Write the formula for:-

CCl4

(a) Sodium oxide.

Na2O AlI3 Fe2O3 Ag2O

(b) Aluminium iodide

(c) Iron(III) oxide (d) Silver(I) oxide.

3.

Write the formula for:Na2CO3

(a) Sodium carbonate (b) Aluminium nitrate (c) Iron(III) hydroxide (d) Nickel(II) sulphate

Al(NO3)3
Fe(OH)3 NiSO4

4.

Write the ionic formula for:Li+HCO3Al3+(OH-)3 Fe2+SO42-

(a) Lithium hydrogencarbonate (b) Aluminium hydroxide (c) Iron(II) sulphate

(d)

Copper(II) nitrate.

Cu2+(NO3-)2