What is valency, electron and proton?


The Valency of an element is a measure of its combining power with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules.

For example, oxygen has six valence electrons, but its valency is 2.

As 8 - 6 = 2, (where 8 is the maximum no. of electrons in a shell,6 is the no. of electrons in its outermost shell).

Some elements may have more than one valency,(like Iron has a valency of 2 and 3) while others have just one like oxygen.


Atoms consist of three basic particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons.

The nucleus (centre) of the atom contains the protons (positively charged) and the neutrons (no charge). The outermost regions of the atom are called shells and contain the electrons (negatively charged).


Electron is a negatively charged subatomic particle. It can be either free or bound to the nucleus of an atom. Electrons in atoms exist in spherical shells of various radii, revolving around the positive nucleus. The charge on a single electron is considered as the unit electrical charge. It is represented by symbol e⁻ or β⁻ .  


Proton-Positively charged subatomic particle forming part of the nucleus of an atom and determining the atomic number of an element. It weighs 1amu.

Tutorialspoint
Tutorialspoint

Simply Easy Learning

Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

116 Views

Kickstart Your Career

Get certified by completing the course

Get Started
Advertisements