Chapter 20
The Transition Elements
Transition elements are those
elements in Groups 3-12 in the
periodic table.
Transistion elements
 Transition Elements – are the most familiar
because they often occur in nature as uncombined
elements unlike groups 1 and 2. Transition
elements often from colored compounds.
 Cobalt – Blue
 Cadmium – Yellow
 From left to right, aqueous solutions of: Co(NO3)2
(red); K2Cr2O7 (orange); K2CrO4 (yellow); NiCl2
(green); CuSO4 (blue); KMnO4 (purple).
Iron, Nickel, and Cobalt
 They form a unique cluster of transition
elements. All three elements are used in the
process to create steel and other metal
mixtures.
 Iron – the main component of steel is the
mostly widely used of all metals.
Copper, Silver, Gold
 The three elements from Group 11 are so
stable, Malleable, (what does this mean?)
and are found as free elements in nature
that they were used to make coins.
 They are sometimes referred as the coinage
metals.
 Copper is used in wires
 Silver is used to make photographic film
 Gold is used for jewelry and NASA.
Zinc, Cadmium, Mercury
 They are found in Group 12.
 Zinc is ued to protect or coat objects such as
metal.
 Why?
 Because Zinc does not rust.
 Cadmium – is used also in coating metals, but is
also used in rechargeable batteries.
 Mercury – is a silvery, liquid metal – only one at
room temp. – is used in thermometers, switches,
and batteries.
The inner transition metals
 The two rows of elements that seem to be
disconnected from the rest of the periodic
table are called the inner transition
elements, and they fit in the periodic table
between groups 3 & 4.
The Lanthanides
 These elements are called the lanthanide
series because they follow the element
lanthanum.
 These elements are used by the motion
picture industry to make movies and to
produce the colors you see on your TV.
 (Thank you Lanthanide series)
The Actinides
 These elements are called the actinide
series because they follow the element
actinium. All of the actinides are radioactive
and are unstable. Uranium is an actinide
found in the Earth’s crust in usable
quantities.
Metals in the Crust
 Earth’s hardened outer layer, called the
crust, contains many compounds and a few
uncombinded metals such as gold and
copper. Metals must be mined and
separated from their ores.
 Most of the world’s platinum is found in
South Africa.