Why is carbon is considered tetravalent?
1 Answer
Aug 15, 2014
Carbon is tetravalent because it can bond with a maximum of four hydrogen atoms.
Explanation:
The valence of an element is the maximum number of hydrogen or chlorine atoms that can combine with an atom of the element.
Carbon is in Group 14 of the Periodic Table, so a carbon atom has four valence electrons.
It can also bond with four atoms of chlorine.
The prefix tetra- means four, so carbon is tetravalent.
