Abstract
Terms such as valence, oxidation number, coordination number, formal charge, and number of bonds are widely used throughout chemistry. Although each of these terms has a distinct meaning, their utility is lessened by imprecise usage. Valence, for example, is frequently taken to be synonymous with oxidation number. However, while valence and oxidation number are coincidentally equal for many compounds, the relationship breaks down in many cases; in such situations, the use of oxidation number instead of valence can result in misleading descriptions of molecules. The purpose of this article is to clarify these terms and illustrate how the valence of an atom in a molecule provides a much more meaningful criterion for establishing the chemical reasonableness of a molecule than does the oxidation number.
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