THE GENERAL FEATURES OF
TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY
This page explains what
a transition metal is in terms of its electronic structure, and then goes on to
look at the general features of transition metal chemistry. These include
variable oxidation state (oxidation number), complex ion formation, coloured ions,
and catalytic activity.
You will find some of
this covered quite briefly on this page with links to other parts of the site
where the topics are covered in more detail.
The electronic
structures of transition metals
What is a transition
metal?
The terms transition
metal (or element) and d block element are sometimes
used as if they mean the same thing. They don't - there's a subtle difference
between the two terms.
We'll explore d block
elements first:
d block elements
You will remember that
when you are building the Periodic Table and working out where to put the
electrons using the Aufbau Principle, something odd happens after argon.
At argon, the 3s and 3p
levels are full, but rather than fill up the 3d levels next, the 4s level fills
instead to give potassium and then calcium.
Only
after that do the 3d levels fill.
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