By Nacia, Ginny, Nora and Madeline

Transition Metals

Transition MetalsThe 38 elements in groups 3 through 12 of the periodic table are called "transition metals". As with all metals, the transition elements are both ductile and malleable, and conduct electricity and heat. The interesting thing about transition metals is that their valence electrons, or the electrons they use to combine with other elements, are present in more than one shell. This is the reason why they often exhibit several common oxidation states. There are three noteworthy elements in the transition metals family. These elements are iron, cobalt, and nickel, and they are the only elements known to produce a magnetic field.

Scandium

Scandium is a soft, light, silvery-white metal, which becomes slightly tinged with yellow or pink when it is exposed to air. It is almost as light (low density) as aluminum but it has a much higher melting point. Scandium is used in aircrafts and it reacts with many acids. Scandium iodide in aluminum-scandium alloys for aerospace industry components and is used in sports equipment such as bicycle frames, fishing rods and baseball bats. Used mainly for research, it has a density almost as low as aluminum and a if her melting point. Used with aluminum in Russian MIG fighter planes, bicycle frames, and baseball bats. Scandium iodide is added to mercury vapor lamps to get a higher efficient light that resembles the sunlight.

Titanium

Titanium is a hard shiny and strong metal. Titanium is as strong as steel but much lessdense. It is therefore important as an alloying agent with many metals including aluminum and iron. These are mainly used in aircrafts,spacecrafts and missiles because of their low density and ability to withstand extremesof temperature. Titanium is used in golf clubs,laptops and bicycles.

Vanadium

Vanadium is a bright white, soft, ductile metal with good structural strength. Vanadium is resistant to attack by alkalis, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and salt water. The main use of vanadium is in alloys, especially with steel.

Chromium

Chromium is a steel-grey, lustrous, hard and brittle metal which takes a high polish, resists tarnishing and has a high melting point. Chromium is used to harden steel and to manufacture stainless steel. Chromium plating is used to add a mirror finish to the steel

Manganese

Manganese is often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a metal with important industrial metal alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels. Manganese is too brittle to be used alone so it is used in alloys mostly in steel. It is used in steel to increase the strength and also resistance to wear.

Iron

Iron is a metal in the first transition series. Iron is a lustrous metallic color with a grayish tinge to it. It is by mass the most common element on earth, forming much of the earth’s outer and inner core. Iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states. Iron is an enigma. It is used to manufacture steel, it is also used in civil engineering and also in manufacturing.

Cobalt

Cobalt is found in the earth’s crust only in chemically combined form. Cobalt is a free element and it is produced by reductive smelting, it is a hard, lustrous and silver-gray metal. Cobalt can be magnetized so it it used to make magnets and it is alloyed with other elements to make even stronger magnets. It is alloyed with other metals and is used in jet turbines and gas turbine generators. Cobalt salts have been used for many many centuries to bring out distinct blue pigments in paint, porcelain, glass, pottery, and enamels.

Nickel

Nickel is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge and it is hard and ductile. Pure nickel, powdered to maximize the reactive surface area, shows a significant chemical activity, but larger pieces are slow to react with air under standard condition because an oxide layer forms on the surface and prevents further corrosion. Nickel resists corrosion and it is often used to plate their metals to so they don't corrode. Although it is used to make alloys such as stainless steel, nickel is used in batteries, and has a long history of being used in coins. Divided nickel is a catalyst used for hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Copper

Copper is a soft, malleable and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a reddish-orange color. Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material. Copper is one of the few metals that occurs in nature in directly usable metallic form as opposed to needing extraction from an ore. Copper was the first metal to be worked by humans. It was used to make coins. All US coins are copper alloys, and gun metals also have copper in them. A lot of copper is used in electrical equipment such as wires and motors, because it conducts heats and electricity.

Zinc

Zinc is chemically similar to magnesium, they both exhibit only one normal oxidation state. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the earth’s crust and has five stable isotopes. Zinc’s appearance is a silvery-gray color. Zinc is mainly used to galvanise other metals. Zinc oxide is commonly used in the manufacturing of other products such as paint, rubber, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastics, inks, soaps, batteries, textiles, and electrical equipment.

Yttrium

Yttrium is a silvery-metallic transition metal that is chemically similar to the “lanthanides” and has often been classified as a “rare earth metal.” Yttrium is never found in nature as a free element. Yttrium is most commonly an additive in alloys. It has the ability to increase the strength in aluminum and magnesium alloys. It is also used in microwave filters. Yttrium-aluminum garnet is used in lasers that can cut through metals and it is also used in white LED lights.

Zirconium

Zirconium is a lustrous, grey-white, strong, ductile and malleable metal. Zirconium is solid at room temperature though, it is hard and brittle at lesser purities. Zirconium in a powdered form, it is highly flammable, but the solid form is much less prone to ignition. Zirconium is an ideal metal for use use in power nuclear power stations. More than 90% of it is used for power stations because it does not absorb neutrons.

Niobium

Niobium is a soft, ductile and gray-metallic metal. It turns bluish when it is oxidized. Niobium has similar chemical properties such as the element tantalum and the two are very hard to distinguish. Niobium is used in mainly stainless steel alloys. At a low temperature it can improve the strength of an alloys. The alloys that have Niobium in it are used for engines and rockets, beams and girders for buildings and oil rigs, and oil and gas pipelines. This metal is also a superconductor, it is used in magnets for particle accelerators, MRI scanners and NMR equipment.

Molybdenum

Molybdenum is found only in various oxidation states in minerals. It is a silvery metal with a gray-metallic crust and it has the sixth highest melting points of any element. Because of its high melting point it is used in glass furnace electrodes.

Technetium

Technetium is the lightest element and it is radioactive. Nearly all technetium is produced synthetically and only minute amounts are found in the earth’s crust. Technetium is a silvery-gray, crystalline metal. It can be used in radioactive isotope medical tests. It can also be used to inhibit corrosion in steel.

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Ruthenium

Ruthenium is a rare metal belonging to the platinum group on the periodic table. It is a hard silvery-white metallic metal. It acts as a catalyst to harden different metals and its alloys are used in electrical contacts. It can also be used to color glass and ceramics.

Rhodium

Rhodium is a rare silvery-white metallic and hard metal. It is a member of the platinum group. Naturally occurred rhodium is usually found as a free metal, alloyed with similar metals and is rarely as a chemical compound in minerals. It is one of the rarest and most valuable precious metals. It is used to create alloys to harden and resist corrosion. The alloys that it creates are used in furnace windings, bushings for glass fiber production, thermocouple elements, electrodes for aircraft spark plugs, and laboratory crucibles.

Palladium

Palladium is a rare, lustrous, soft and silvery-white metal. It is the least dense and has the lowest melting point of the platinum group metals. Palladium increases its strength and hardness when it is cold-worked. It is often used in catalytic converters for cars. It is also used in jewelry and crowns and fillings for dental work. It is found in laptops and cellphones

Silver

Silver is a soft, white, lustrous metal. It exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and reflectivity of any metal. Silver is found in the earth’s crust in pure, in its free elemental form and as an alloy with gold and other metals. Silver is more abundant than gold but it is much less abundant as a native metal. Silver is one of the seven metals of antiquity, it has an enduring role in most human cultures. Silver has long been valued as a precious metal. It is used for jewelry and tableware. It is also used in mirrors, dental alloys, solder and brazing alloys, electrical contacts and batteries, and silver paints are used for making printed circuits.

Cadmium

Cadmium is a soft bluish-white metal and it is chemically similar to zinc and mercury. Cadmium has many similar aspects of zinc but it forms complex compounds. Unlike other metals, cadmium is resistant to corrosion and it is used as a protective plate on other metals. Cadmium is a poisonous metal. Since it is poisonous its uses are very few. It is used as a protectants on various metals against corrosion.

HafniumHafnium is a lustrous, silvery-gray and tetravalence metal. It is used for nuclear reactor control rods. It has the ability to absorb neutrons and can resist corrosion.

Tantalum

Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous metal and highly corrosion resistant. Tantalum is a part of the refractory metal groups which are widely used as minor components in alloys. Tantalum is a valuable substance for lab equipment. It is used in the electronic industry. In the electronic industry it is used for capacitors and high power resistors. The metal can be used for dental and surgical equipment or implants.

Tungsten is a hard, grayish-white, lustrous metal and it is a rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined. In its purest form, tungsten is a hard steel-grey metal, it is often brittle and hard to work. If tungsten is made very pure, it retains its hardness and becomes malleable enough that it can be worked easily. Of all the metals in pure form, tungsten has the highest melting point and lowest vapor pressure. It is used in electric contacts and arc-welding electrodes. It is also used in filaments in incandescent light bulbs.

Rhenium

Rhenium is a silvery-white and heavy metal. Rhenium is one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust. It has the third highest melting point and highest boiling point of any element at 5873 Kelvins. Rhenium is often used alongside platinum as a catalyst for the production of lead free high octane gasoline. It is also added to alloys for jet engines.

Osmium

Osmium is a hard, brittle and bluish-white metal in the platinum group. Because of its hardness, brittleness, low vapor pressure and very high melting point, solid osmium is difficult to machine, form and work. Osmium is the densest occurring element. It is often added to alloys to create phonograph needles, and electrical contacts.

Iridium

Iridium is a very hard, brittle, silvery-white metal and is a part of the platinum group. Iridium is the second densest element and also most corrosion-resistant metal even at high temperatures. Also, because of iridium’s hardness, brittleness and high melting point, solid iridium is difficult to machine, form and work thus powdered iridium is more commonly used. Its most common use is a hardening agent for other metal alloys

Platinum

Platinum is dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious and a gray-white metal. Platinum is a part of the platinum group metals on the periodic table. Platinum reacts with oxygen slowly at a very high temperature. Platinum’s characteristics and chemical uses make it useful for industrial applications. Its resistance to wear and tarnish is well suited to use in fine jewelry. Although it is commonly used in jewelry its main use is in catalytic converters for automobiles.

Gold

Gold in its purest form is bright, slightly reddish-yellow, dense, soft, malleable and ductile metal. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets/grains or in rocks.

Mercury

Mercury is heavy and a silvery-white metal. It is a poor conductor of heat but a fair conductor of electricity. Mercury at its freezing point and boiling point is at its lowest out of any metal. Mercury is the only element that is liquid at standard pressure and temperature. It is often used in thermometers and various scientific instruments. Mercury vapor can be used in street lights and fluorescent lights.

Rutherfordium is a radioactive metal and it does not occur naturally. At present time, it only is used for research.

Dubnium is a highly radioactive metal and it is known as the most stable isotope. Dubnium does not occur naturally on earth and it is produced artificially. It is only used for research.

Seaborgium is a synthetic element and it is radioactive. It is an element that can be created in a lab but it is not found in nature. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that seaborgium behaves as the heavier homologue to tungsten. Seaborgium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions. Since there have only been atoms of seaborgium made there is no uses for it other than basic scientific research.

Bohrium is a synthetic element and it is radioactive. It is an element that can be created in a lab but it is not found in nature. Bohrium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and it is expected to be heavy. It is only used for research right now.

Hassium is a synthetic element and it is radioactive. Calculations show that hassium should be very heavy. Also, its properties show that generally it should be the heaviest homologue to osmium and it is predicted to be a solid at room temperature. Right now since there have only been a few atoms created it is only used for research.

Meitnerium is extremely radioactive and it is a synthetic element. There are no chemical experiments that have yet been carried out to confirm that it behaves as the heavier homologue to iridium. Meitnerium is calculated to have similar properties to its lighter homologues, cobalt, rhodium and iridium. Used for research.

Darmstadtium is extremely radioactive and it is a synthetic element. There are no chemical experiments that have yet carried out to confirm that it behaves as the heavier homologue to platinum. Darmstadtium is calculated to have similar properties to its lighter homologues, nickel, palladium and platinum. At the moment it is only used for research.