5.2 To determine the electronic configuration of the first row transition elements and of their ions. 5.

3 Explain the relatively small changes in atomic radii, ionic radii and ionization energies across the period.

Transition elements are elements found in the d-block which form one or more single ions with an incomplete d electron sub-shell. First row transition elements are the ones circled in red:

Although Scandium and Zinc are block elements, they are not transition elements. Scandium forms only one ion Sc3+ , with no electrons in its d subshell. Zinc forms only one ion, Zn2+ and has a complete 3d sub-shell. The electronic configuration for Copper (and Chromium) do not follow pattern when filling the sub-shell. For copper(Cu), the arrangement of a d sub-shell with paired electrons in each orbital, [Ar]3d104s1, gives greater stability than having one of the d orbitals with only a single electron in it.

The electronic configuration of transition metals is special in the sense that they can be found in numerous oxidation states. Although the elements can display many different oxidation states, they usually exhibit a common oxidation state depending on what makes that element most stable. In the first row of the transition metals, the ten elements that can be found are Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni) and Copper (Cu).

First Row Transition Metals

Oxidation States

Element Symbol
Ti V Cr

Atomic Number
22 23 24

+1

+2

+3

+4

+5

+6

+7

No

Rare

Rare Common (green) Common (Most stable)

Common Common (blue) Rare

No Common (yellow) Rare

No No Common

No No No

Rare Common (lilac) Rare Common

Mn

25

Rare Common Common (Most (purple/red stable) ) (pink/red)

Common

Rare (blue) Common (green)

Common (purple)

Fe
Co

26
27

Rare Common (ferrous)

Rare Common

Common (ferric)
Common

Rare
Rare

Rare
Rare

Rare
Rare

No
No

Ni
Cu

28
29

Rare Common
Rare Common (blue/green )

Rare
No

Rare
No

No
No

No
No

No
No

The decrease in atomic radii from left to right across the first row of the d-block is small and irregular. The decrease is much less than that seen on moving across a short period such as sodium to argon. In the first row of the d block, as the nuclear charge increases across the period, each additional electron enters the penultimate 3d orbital which increases the shielding experienced by the 4s electrons. This results in a relatively small difference in the effective nuclear charge as the shielding effect nullifies, to a large extent, the increase in nuclear charge.

The ionic radii, like the atomic radii tend to increase along the series but only slightly as compared with the large differences in the s an p block elements. The increased attractive effect of the nucleus on the outer electrons from one transition element to the next is almost cancelled by the increased repulsive forces caused by the extra repulsion of the 3d electrons.

The first ionisation energy increases from left to right across the first row of the d block. However the increase is relatively small compared to that of the short period sodium to argon. In the first row of the d block, as the nuclear charge increases each additional electron enters the penultimate 3d orbitals. These 3d electrons efficiently shields the 4s electrons from the nucleus. Thus the increased nuclear attraction for the outer 4s electrons is minimal across the period. This results in relatively small changes in the energy required to remove an outer 4s electron.

Element Atomic radius/ nm Ionic Radius of 2+ ions/nm Ionization energy/ kjmol-1

Ti 0.132

V 648

Cr 653

Mn 716

Fe 762

Co 757

Ni 736

Cu 745

0.090

0.090

0.085

0.080

0.076

0.078

0.078

0.069

661

648

653

716

762

757

736

745