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valency of carbon, hydrogen, etc. can be determined by the number of valence electrons, but how to determine the valency of NO2,SO4,etc.
Valency is the number of hydrogen atoms that can combine with [or displace] one atom of the element [or radical] to form a compound. For example, one atom of hydrogen combines with one atom of chlorine to form hydrogen chloride [HCl]; so, the valency of chlorine [chloride] is one. Similarly, the valency of the nitrite radical [NO2] in the compound nitrous acid [HNO2] is 1, and the valency of the sulfate radical in the compound sulfuric acid [H2SO4] is 2.


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