Valence
Valence is a somewhat outdated concept in chemistry. It is a number that tries to predict with how many neighboring atoms a certain atom can form a chemical bond. For redox reactions it has been superseded by the concept of oxidation number.
See also: Valency (lists valence numbers for certain atoms)
In linguistics, valence refers to the number of arguments that a verb can take. For example, a monovalent verb (e.g., "sleep") cannot take a direct object ("He sleeps," versus "He sleeps it."). A trivalent verb has three arguments (e.g., "give" has the giver, the givee, and the thing given).
For a more detailed explanation, see verb.
In psychology and neuroscience, valence refers to the emotional value associated with a stimulus; e.g., a familiar face can have positive valence.
Valence is the name of several communes of France:
also:
- Valence-d'Albigeois, in the Tarn département
- Valence-en-Brie, in the Seine-et-Marne département
- Valence-sur-Baïse, in the Gers département
