Transition elements
Transition elements
- The transition elements are the block of metals in the middle of the table.
- Compared with Group I metals, they have:
- high densities,
- high melting points,
- coloured compounds,
- often act as catalysts.
- They can have variable oxidation numbers — e.g. iron forms iron(II) and iron(III).
Practice
Which are typical of transition elements? (Choose all that apply.)
Transition metals are dense, high-melting, form coloured compounds and catalyse reactions; Group I metals are the soft, low-density ones.
Practice
Iron forming both iron(II) and iron(III) shows that transition metals have:
Transition elements can have more than one oxidation number (e.g. Fe2+ and Fe3+).
Practice
Transition elements typically form coloured compounds.
Coloured compounds are a hallmark of the transition metals.
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Key idea
- transition elements = middle-block metals: high density, high melting point
- they form coloured compounds and are often catalysts
- they show variable oxidation numbers (e.g. iron(II) and iron(III))