divalent

[dahy-vey-luhnt]

adjective

Chemistry.

1. having a valence of two, as the ferrous ion, Fe ++ .

divalent

/ ˈdaɪˌveɪ-, daɪˈveɪlənt /

adjective

1. having a valency of two

2. having two valencies

Other Word Forms

• divalence noun
• divalency noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of divalent¹

First recorded in 1865–70; di- ¹ + -valent

Example Sentences

"To date, no earth-based mineral has been reported to contain chromium in the divalent state as one of the components," said Subramanian, the Milton Harris Professor of Materials Science in the OSU College of Science.

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They are made of an A+ cation, a B2+ divalent cation, and an X- halide.

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An analysis showed that heavy divalent cations, like magnesium, bound to the latex particle membranes weighed down the particles -- until the connection eventually collapsed.

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As to the forces that held the chains together, the best guess seemed to be salt bridges in which divalent cations like Mg++ held together two or more phosphate groups.

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The adjective monovalent, divalent, trivalent, etc., is prefixed to an element to denote that the atom of this element combines with one, or two, or three, etc., atoms of hydrogen to form a compound molecule.

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