Predicting the Charge

✦ Since you can’t tell from the Periodic Table what the charge is on a transition metal ion, you need to determine this from the chemical formula

✦ How can you determine the charge on the cobalt ion in CoCl2 ?

✦ What is the charge on the Manganese ion in MnO2 ?

✦ What about Copper in CuCO3 ?

Naming Transition Metal Compounds

1. Write the name of the metal

2. In parentheses, write the charge on the ion in roman numerals

3. Write the name of the anion

CrCl3 is named Chromium (III) chloride

Practice✦ Name the following compounds:

✦ CoBr2 PbCl4 Fe(NO3)3 CuSO4

✦ Cobalt (II) bromide

✦ Lead (IV) chloride

✦ Iron (III) nitrate

✦ Copper (II) sulfate

The Truth about Electrons:

Explaining Transition Metal Behaviors✦ We have been using the

Bohr Model of the atom showing electrons in “energy shells”.

✦ Newer evidence shows that, while there are energy levels, the space electrons actually occupy is more complex.

✦ Each energy level contains “suborbitals”

Suborbitals✦ The suborbitals that electrons inhabit

take strange shaps, and have the names, s, p, d and f

The First Energy Level

✦ The two electrons in the first shell inhabit a sphere-shaped s orbital. Because it is t the first energy level it is called the 1s orbital.

The Second energy level: The 2s orbital

✦ As you know, this energy shell can hold 8 electrons. These are divided, in pairs, into 4 different suborbitals. Two inhabit a larger sphere-shaped 2s orbital.

The Second energy level: The 2p orbitals

✦ There are three of these barbell-shaped orbitals. Each one can hold up to 2 electrons, for a maximum of 6 electrons in the 2p orbitals.

The Third Energy Level:

3s and 3p orbitals At the third energy level, there are a 3s and three 3p orbitals, larger and outside the inner ones.

The Transition Metal Trick

✦ At energy level 4, one 4s orbital is filled.

✦ THEN, before filling the 4p orbitals, ten more electrons sneak in at energy level 3. They occupy five 3d orbitals.

✦ Only after the 3d orbitals are filled are the 4p orbitals occupied.

Filling Electron Shells

It’s the d orbitals that make the transition metal electrons more complex. They

pack in 5x2 = 10 more electrons.

The f-block

But it doesn’t stop there. The Lanthanides and Actinides have their own set of 7 orbitals, packing in another 14 electrons each.

f orbitals

✦ Just for fun. ;-)