Question What is valence/valency simplified?

Mar 4, 2020
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Valence is most often a chemistry term or an electronic term, used to denote an ionization potential.

That's a fancy way of saying that how easily an electron can leave or enter a nucleus.

The term valence also has meanings in lots of other fields of study too. Depending on the field of study and the influence of valence on that field........valence has several narratives for this potential.

In other words, the property or the concept and sense of valence, depends on what field of study that you are relating valence to.

The true physical dynamic of ionization, and the potential for it, is unknown. This is because the structure of the elements, and the component structures that form elements remains unknown.

We know that an element or an atom can lose or gain electrons, giving the atom a net charge. We also know that ionization causes a change in the physical size of the atom too. We also know that some atoms(which infers that some structures) have more of a valence potential than other atoms(structures).

We also know that this potential has a great affect on what elements can bind......under all kinds of environments and other external influences.

But the actual mechanism of ionization remains unknown, because we do not know what mass is. If knowing that an electron is exchanged/shared is all that is needed, then valence of mass/matter is accepted as a known property. But the physical structure of an electron and a nucleus remains unknown. So we have no idea of the true physical bond.

Valence describes an atomic property that can be measured, but the cause remains unknown. We have several narratives for it, but the mysteries of mass and matter persist to this day. No one knows what mass is. We only know how it reacts to stimulus. We have no clue as to WHY is reacts as it does. We need to know the structure and motion of the sub atomic components, in order to find out what this stuff is.

But all we can detect and measure is a blur, a fuzz sphere. The cause of all the fundamental properties remains unknown. We are still completely ignorant of mass and matter.

Whatever field you decide to study and work with, you will need to accept and work with the narrative about valence, for that field.

In chemistry it's a binding potential which requires an energy exchange. Some bindings require a energy release and some bindings require an energy absorption.

In electronics it's an electrical potential that's required for current or emission. Other fields have their own sense of reference.

My comments are general and simplified, for a more specific definition, you need to refer to the particular field of study of interest. For the selectable context of the concept.

Until we discern what mass is, all concepts will remain confusing.

I for one believe that all physical properties, come from motional structure.