What is Covalency

Q. What is covalency?

Ans:– Covalency occurs when an element shares electrons with other atoms of the same or different elements to produce a stable electrical state. The covalency of an atom is equal to one if it shares one electron. Its covalency is two if it can share two electrons.

The maximum number of bonds formed by an atom to reach the stable electronic configuration is also known as covalency. 

To calculate the covalency, draw the molecule’s Lewis structure and count the number of shared electron pairs.

For example,

• H2 molecule can be formed by the sharing of one electron of each hydrogen atom.

 Hence, the covalency is one.

• O2molecule can be formed by the sharing of two electrons from each oxygen atom.

 Hence, the covalency is two.

• N2molecule can be formed by the sharing of three electrons from each nitrogen atom.

Hence, the covalency is three.

When forming chemical bonds, an atom’s covalency is the number of electrons it shares with other atoms. The number of covalent bonds it forms with other atoms.

Let’s draw the methane molecule;

Molecular formula – CH4

Electronic configuration of carbon – 1s22s22p2

Electronic configuration of hydrogen – 1s2

The valence, or outermost shell, of carbon possesses four electrons. To complete the shell, four additional electrons are required. 

Four hydrogen atoms, each with one electron, share their electrons with four carbon atoms in methane (CH4). Four covalent C-H bonds are created, completing both hydrogen and carbon’s electrical configurations.

The number of bonds made by carbon in this case is four. As a result, carbon has a covalency of four.