Transition Metals

Learning Objective

To understand why the properties of

transition metals make them so useful.

Many of their
compounds
are coloured.
When you think of
a 'typical' metal,

it is likely to be a tra nsit ion m etal

because of their m any fa mil ia r
uses
– from jewe ll ery to the girders used
in construction.
Transition metals occupy the
central block of the periodic
table.
In the periodic table most elements can
be arranged in columns according to
how many valence electrons they have.
That tells you what they do in chemical
reactions.

Transition elements
however cannot be put
into groups as all of them
have very similar
properties
This is because
they have the same arrangement of
outer electrons; only the 3d orbitals,
lower down, are different.
they don't always use the same
number of valence electrons in chemical
reactions.

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d6

Iro n, for exa mpl e,
someti mes gi ves up just
its two 4s el ect rons, and
someti mes throws i n a
3d, since those ar e so
cl ose i n energy.
 Characteristics of
Transition Metals

 All have the common properties

of metals, being good conductors of
heat and electricity.

They are silvery-grey in colour,

except for copper, Cu,(pink-brown)
and gold, Au, (golden).
 Are ductile and malleable

 Are harder than Group 1 and

Group 2 metals and generally have
higher melting and boiling points

 Have high densities

Ch emi ca l pro per ti es

The transition metals are much less

reactive than the metals in Groups 1
or 2.
Iron rusts quite slowly, and precious
metals such as gold resist any attack
by water or air.
 Zinc ,
Zn
 Zi ncis used to galvanise (coat) iron
or steel to protect them from corrosion.

 Zi nc sulph ate solution can be used

as the electrolyte for
electroplating/galvanising objects with a
zinc layer.
 COPPER, Cu
 Copper is used in electrical wiring because
it is a good conductor of electricity

 Copper is used in domestic hot water pipes

because it is relatively unreactive to water
and therefore doesn't corrode easily.

 Copper is used for cooking pans it is readily

beaten or pressed into shape but strong
enough, has a high melting and is a good
conductor of heat.
 IRON, Fe

 Cast iron is used for man-hole covers because

it is so hard wearing.

 When alloyed with 1% carbon iron forms mild

steel which is not brittle, but is more malleable
and corrosion resistant than cast iron. Mild steel
is used for food cans, car bodies and
machinery etc.

 Iron and steel are used for boilers because of

their good heat conduction properties and
high melting point.
 Cata ly sts
 Many transition metals are used directly
as catalysts in industrial chemical
processes and in the anti-pollution
catalytic converters in car exhausts.

 For
example iron is used in the Haber
Synthesis of ammonia:
 Nitrogen + Hydrogen ==> Ammonia
(via a catalyst of Fe atoms)

 or N2(g) + 3H2(g) ==> 2NH3(g)

Extraction of Iron
 Iron
is the second-most abundant
metal in the Earth's crust after
aluminium.

 Thecommon ore of iron is hematite

[Fe2O3].

 Iron
from hematite is usually extracted
through the carbon reduction process.
 http://readysteadyteach.com/content/t_184/powerpoints/1
Click on
diagram

The iron ore with carbon (in the form

of coke) and limestone are added to
a blast furnace (at 2000°C).
 Hotair is pumped into the blast furnace
through the bottom.

 Thecarbon reacts with the oxygen to

produce carbon dioxide:
C + O2 → 2CO

 After
carbon dioxide is formed, excess
carbon reacts with coke to form
carbon monoxide - the main reducing
reagent in the furnace.
CO2 + C → 2CO
 Thecarbon monoxide in the blast furnace
reacts with the hematite (iron(III) oxide) to
produce iron and carbon dioxide.
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2

 Whilethe iron is being extracted, the

limestone reacts with the impurities in the ore
and melts them to form slag, which effectively
prevents the impurities from affecting the
reduction of the iron ore.
CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
CaO + SiO2 → CaSiO3 [slag]
EXTRACTING COPPER
There are 3 main stages:
1) Mining
 The copper ore has to be dug from the ground.
 The ore contains some copper mineral and lot of
waste rock.

2) Extraction
 An ore has to be changed chemically into the
metal.
 This process is called reduction.
 How this is done, and how much it costs,
depends upon the metal's reactivity.
 The more reactive the metal, the harder it is
to extract it from its ore.

Reactivi Primary
Metal Ore
ty process

found mainly as the

aluminium high electrolysis
ore bauxite

iron extracted from the ore medium blast furnace

roasting in
copper various ores low
air
3) Copper is purified by electrolysis.
Impure copper from the
furnace is used as the
anode.
The cathode is made from
a thin sheet of pure
copper.
The copper is then refined
http://readysteadyteach.com/content/t_184/powerp

by placing the two

electrodes in a copper
sulphate bath and passing
a current between them. Click on
diagram
 The impure copper on the anode corrodes.
 The copper ions pass through the electrolyte.
 The ions collect on the cathode sheet as pure
copper.

 When the cathode has acquired a sufficient

thickness of pure copper, it is lifted from the
electrolysis cell and replaced with a new
electrode. Similarly, when the anode has
corroded completely away, it is replaced with
a new ingot of smelted metal.

 The cathodes are melted down and made into

wire and sheet metal.
Summary
The transition metals are 'typical' metals,
found in the central block of the Periodic
Table, between Groups 2 and 3.

They are less reactive than the metals in

Group 1 or Group 2 and are much stronger
metals.

Many industrial processes use transition

metals or their compounds as catalysts to
speed up reactions.