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Dictionary » V » Valence

Valence

Definition

noun, plural: valences

(biology, immunology) The relative capability of a substance (e.g. antibody) to act upon, react, or bind with a biological substrate (e.g. antigen); the number of antigen binding sites that an antibody has, or the number of antigenic determinants an antigen has.

(biochemistry ) The number of binding sites on a molecule.

(chemistry) A property of atom or radical that indicates its combining power, especially in terms of the number of hydrogen atoms.


Supplement

Word origin: Latin valentia (strength)

Related forms: valent (noun or adjective)

Synonym: valency

Related terms:


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Any SOLID arguments against evolution?

... that you mentioned "last 4" which would not include hydrogen. Somehow I had thought the number 4 was a reference to carbon, which has a valence number of 4. What I deserve for posting when I really should be sleeping. My apologies.

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by alextemplet
Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:54 am
 
Forum: Evolution
Topic: Any SOLID arguments against evolution?
Replies: 106
Views: 19859

Any SOLID arguments against evolution?

... atom. Oxygen and sulfur can each bond to two other atoms, nitrogen to three, and carbon to four. These numbers all have to do with the number of valence electrons each atom has, and they put an absolute limit on the number of different ways a molecule can be arranged.

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by alextemplet
Sun May 31, 2009 10:36 pm
 
Forum: Evolution
Topic: Any SOLID arguments against evolution?
Replies: 106
Views: 19859

Electrons... To be or not to be...

because it's not made of metal and metals are good conductors because of the their free valence electrons and in the case of transition metals, they have a d orbital which also contribute carrier electrons. There's also something about bandgaps being big in insulators ...

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by mith
Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:23 pm
 
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Electrons... To be or not to be...
Replies: 14
Views: 704

Re: "H - C = C - H" doesn't make sense chemically why?

As Mith points out, the full valence of carbon is 4. It will prefer to share its four electrons with its bonding partners. The structure as drawn has the carbons sharing only three electrons (one for each bond) which means that each carbon ...

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by blcr11
Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:35 pm
 
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: "H - C = C - H" doesn't make sense chemically why?
Replies: 3
Views: 785

"H - C = C - H" doesn't make sense chemically why?

carbon has 4 valence

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by mith
Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:10 am
 
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: "H - C = C - H" doesn't make sense chemically why?
Replies: 3
Views: 785
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