Valency of Carbon (C)
The valency of Carbon is 4 — it has 4 valence electrons, and it shares all four to complete its outer shell.
Looking for Carbon's valency without wading through a whole chapter? Here is the direct answer first, then the tables and derivations examiners want to see. Every number on this page comes from the same engine that powers the interactive table. Need the whole picture instead — history, characteristics, uses, exam questions? The full Carbon page is one click away.
Counting the valence electrons
From the configuration [He] 2s^2 2p^2, Carbon's outermost shell carries 4 electrons. These are the electrons shown as dots in electron-dot diagrams — the hands Carbon uses to hold other atoms.
Position check: Carbon belongs to group 14 of the periodic table, period 2. For main-group elements in groups 13–18, a quick rule is valency = group number − 10, which gives 4 here.
Valency vs valence electrons
Valence electrons are what you count (4 for Carbon); valency is what the atom will do to complete its outer shell (4 here). Keep the two words straight and half the periodic-table chapter writes itself.
Students also ask
How do I find the valency of Carbon from its group?
Carbon sits in group 14; groups 13–17 follow valency = group − 10, giving 4 (though Carbon also shows 4).
Why does Carbon show a fixed valency?
Carbon has 4 valence electrons and reaches a complete outer shell in one consistent way, so its valency stays fixed at 4.