
When it forms ions, it always loses the two 4s electrons to give a 2+ ion with the electronic structure 3d 10. Zinc has the electronic structure 3d 104s 2.The Sc 3 + ion has no d electrons and so does not meet the definition. When it forms ions, it always loses the 3 outer electrons and ends up with an argon structure. Scandium has the electronic structure 3d 14s 2.On the basis of this definition, scandium and zinc do not count as transition metals - even though they are members of the d block. Not all d block elements count as transition metals!Ī transition metal is one that forms one or more stable ions which have incompletely filled d orbitals. You will notice that the pattern of filling is not entirely tidy! It is broken at both chromium and copper.Transition metals

The electronic structures of the d block elements shown are: Sc The first row of these is shown in the shortened form of the Periodic Table below. The elements in the Periodic Table which correspond to the d levels filling are called d block elements. At argon, the 3s and 3p levels are full, but rather than fill up the 3d levels next, the 4s level fills instead to give potassium and then calcium. You will remember that when you are building the Periodic Table and working out where to put the electrons using the Aufbau Principle, something odd happens after argon. They don't - there's a subtle difference between the two terms.

The terms transition metal (or element) and d block element are sometimes used as if they mean the same thing.
