TRANSITION METALS

II
(GENERAL CHEMISTRY)

BY:
JOSEPH DANIEL PANALAGAO
ERICA BIANCA MIRANDA
FRANCIS ESTIMADA

SUBMITTED TO:
Mr. JAYRON MARK BERNARDO
TRANSITION METALS II

In chemistry, the term transition metal (or transition element) has three possible meanings:
The IUPAC definition defines a transition metal as "an element whose atom has a partially
filled d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell".
Many scientists describe a "transition metal" as any element in the d-block of the periodic table,
which includes groups 3 to 12 on the periodic table. In actual practice, the f-
block lanthanide and actinide series are also considered transition metals and are called "inner
transition metals".

The following elements will be discussed by the reporter;

PLATINUM, GOLD, MERCURY, RUTHERFORDIUM, DUBNIUM, SEABORGIUM, BOHRIUM,
HASSIUM, MEITHERIUM, UNUNBIUM, NIOBIUM, INDIUM, DARMSTADIUM

PLATINUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 78PROTON: 78 ELECTRON: 78 NEUTRON: 117VALENCE

ELECTRON : 5d 6s ETYMOLOGY: PLATINO OR “LITTLE SILVER”
Probably the oldest worked specimen of platinum is that from an ancient Egyptian casket of the
7th century BC, unearthed at Thebes and dedicated to Queen Shapenapit. Otherwise this metal
was unknown in Europe and Asia for the next two millennia, although on the Pacific coast of
South America, there were people able to work platinum, as shown by burial goods dating back
2000 years.

In 1557 an Italian scholar, Julius Scaliger, wrote of a metal from Spanish Central America that
could not be made to melt and was no doubt platinum. Then, in 1735, Antonio Ulloa
encountered this curious metal, but as he returned to Europe his ship was captured by the
Royal Navy and he ended up in London. There, members of the Royal Society were most
interested to hear about the new metal, and by the 1750s, platinum was being reported and
discussed throughout Europe. Platinum is used extensively for jewelry. Its main use, however, is
in catalytic converters for cars, trucks and buses. This accounts for about 50% of demand each
year. Platinum is very effective at converting emissions from the vehicle’s engine into less
harmful waste products.

Platinum is used in the chemicals industry as a catalyst for the production of nitric acid, silicone
and benzene. It is also used as a catalyst to improve the efficiency of fuel cells.
The electronics industry uses platinum for computer hard disks and thermocouples.

Platinum is also used to make optical fibers and LCDs, turbine blades, spark plugs, pacemakers
and dental fillings.

Platinum compounds are important chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancers.

GOLD. ATOMIC NUMBER: 79 PROTON: 79 ELECTRON: 79 NEUTRON: 118 VALENCE ELECTRON: 1

ETYMOLOGY: AURUM OR “SHINING DAWN”

Gold Discovered in California. Many people in California figured gold was there, but it
was James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848, who saw something shiny in Sutter Creek
near Coloma, California. He had discovered gold unexpectedly while overseeing construction of
a sawmill on the American River.

Gold has been known since prehistoric times and was one of the first metals to be worked,
mainly because it was to be found as nuggets or as particles in the beds of streams. Such was
the demand that by 2000 BC the Egyptians began mining gold. The death mask of
Tutankhamen, who died in 1323 BC, contained 100 kg of the metal. The royal graves of ancient
Ur (modern Iraq), which flourished from 3800 to 2000 BC, also contained gold objects.

The minting of gold coins began around 640 BC in the Kingdom of Lydia (situated in what is now
modern Turkey) using electrum, a native alloy of gold and silver. The first pure gold coins were
minted in the reign of King Croesus, who ruled from 561–547 BC.

Most mined gold is stored as bullion. It is also, however, used extensively in jewelry, either in its
pure form or as an alloy. The term ‘carat’ indicates the amount of gold present in an alloy. 24-
carat is pure gold, but it is very soft. 18- and 9-carat gold alloys are commonly used because
they are more durable.

The metal is also used for coinage, and has been used as standard for monetary systems in
some countries.

Gold can be beaten into very thin sheets (gold leaf) to be used in art, for decoration and as
architectural ornament. Electroplating can be used to cover another metal with a very thin
layer of gold. This is used in gears for watches, artificial limb joints, cheap jewelry and electrical
connectors. It is ideal for protecting electrical copper components because it conducts
electricity well and does not corrode (which would break the contact). Thin gold wires are used
inside computer chips to produce circuits.

Dentists sometimes use gold alloys in fillings, and a gold compound is used to treat some cases
of arthritis.
Gold nanoparticles are increasingly being used as industrial catalysts. Vinyl acetate, which is
used to make PVA (for glue, paint and resin), is made using a gold catalyst.

MERCURY. ATOMIC NUMBER: 80 PROTON: 80ELECTRON: 80 NEUTRON: 121 VALENCE

ELECTRON: 6S ETYMOLOGY: Hg (HYDRARGYROS) LATINIZED FORM OF GREEK WORD
Mercury or quicksilver has been known since ancient times. We do not know who discovered it.
Mercury was known to the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Hindus and has been found in
Egyptian tombs dating back to about 1500 B.C.

Cinnabar (aka vermilion, mercury sulfide, HgS), was used as a bright red pigment by the
Palaeolithic painters of 30,000 years ago to decorate caves in Spain and France. Cinnabar would
yield up its mercury simply on heating in a crucible, and the metal fascinated people because it
was a liquid that would dissolve gold. The ancients used in on a large scale to extract alluvial
gold from the sediment of rivers. The mercury dissolved the gold which could be reclaimed by
distilling off the mercury.

The Almadén deposit in Spain provided Europe with its mercury. In the Americas, it was the
Spanish conquerors who exploited the large deposits of cinnabar at Huancavelica in order to
extract gold. In 1848 the miners of the Californian Gold Rush used mercury from the New
Almaden Mines of California.

Although highly toxic, mercury had many uses, as in thermometers, but these are now strictly
curtained.

Mercury has fascinated people for millennia, as a heavy liquid metal. However, because of its
toxicity, many uses of mercury are being phased out or are under review.

It is now mainly used in the chemical industry as catalysts. It is also used in some electrical
switches and rectifiers.

Previously its major use was in the manufacture of sodium hydroxide and chlorine by
electrolysis of brine. These plants will all be phased out by 2020. It was also commonly used in
batteries, fluorescent lights, felt production, thermometers and barometers. Again, these uses
have been phased out.

Mercury easily forms alloys, called amalgams, with other metals such as gold, silver and tin. The
ease with which it amalgamates with gold made it useful in recovering gold from its ores.
Mercury amalgams were also used in dental fillings.

Mercuric sulfide (vermilion) is a high-grade, bright-red paint pigment, but is very toxic so is now
only used with great care.
RUTHERFORDIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 104 PROTON: 104 ELECTRON: 104 NEUTRON: 157
VALENCE ELECTRON: 6d 7s ETYMOLOGY: ERNEST RUTHERFORD
This name had been used in books of the Soviet Bloc as the official name of the element. The
Americans, however, proposed rutherfordium (Rf) for the new element to honor Ernest
Rutherford, who is known as the "father" of nuclear physics.

In 1964, a team led by Georgy Flerov at the Russian Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in
Dubna, bombarded plutonium with neon and produced element 104, isotope 259. They
confirmed their findings in 1966.

In 1969, a team led by Albert Ghiorso at the Californian Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL)
made three successful attempts to produce element 104: by bombarding curium with oxygen
to get isotope-260, californium with carbon to get isotope-257, and californium with carbon to
get isotope-258.

A dispute over priority of discovery followed and eventually, in 1992, the International Unions
of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) concluded that both the Russian and American
researchers had been justified in making their claims. IUPAC decided element 104 would be
called rutherfordium.

A radioactive metal that does not occur naturally. Relatively few atoms have ever been made.
At present, it is only used in research.

DUBNIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 105 PROTON: 105 ELECTRON: 105 NEUTRON: 163 VALENCE
ELECTRON: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF DUBNIUMETYMOLOGY: DUBNA
Word Origin: Dubnium is named for Dubna, Russia, home of the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Research, where the element was first reported. ... Though the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) endorsed the name dubnium, some scientists still refer to the
element as “hahnium.”

In 1968, a team led by Georgy Flerov at the Russian Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)
bombarded americium with neon and made an isotope of element 105. In 1970, a team led by
Albert Ghiorso at the American Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) bombarded californium
with neon and obtained isotope 261. They disputed the claim of the JINR people. The two
groups gave it different names. The Russians called it neilsbohrium, while the Americans called
it hahnium, both being derived from the names of prominent nuclear scientists.

Eventually, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) decided it should be
called dubnium.
A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made. At present, it is
only used in research.

SEABORGIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 106 PROTON: 106 ELECTRON: 106 NEUTRON: 165 VALENCE
ELECTRON: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SEABORGIUM ETYMOLOGY: GLENN THEODORE
SEABORG
But only two elements have been named after living people. One is element 99, einsteinium.
The other is element 106, called seaborgium in honour of the American chemist Glenn Seaborg.

In 1970, a team led by Albert Ghiorso at the Californian Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(LBNL) bombarded californium with oxygen and was successful in producing element 106,
isotope 263. In 1974, a team led by Georgy Flerov and Yuri Oganessian at the Russian Joint
Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) bombarded lead with chromium and obtained isotopes
259 and 260.

In September 1974, a team led by Ghiorso at LBNL produced isotope 263, with a half-life of 0.8
seconds, by bombarding californium with oxygen. Several atoms of seaborgium have since been
made by this method which produces one seaborgium atom per hour.

A radioactive metal that does not occur naturally. Only a few atoms have ever been made. At
present, it is only used in research.

BOHRIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 107 PROTON: 107 ELECTRON: 107 NEUTRON: 272VALENCE
ELECTRON: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF BOHRIUM ETYMOLOGY: NIELS BOHR

Element 107 was originally proposed to be named after Niels Bohr, a Danish nuclear physicist,
with the name nielsbohrium (Ns). This name was later changed by IUPAC to bohrium (Bh).

In 1975 a team led by Yuri Oganessian at the Russian Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)
in Dubna, bombarded bismuth with chromium and produced element 107, isotope-261. They
published the results of their successful run in 1976 and submitted a discovery claim.

In 1981, a team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the German nuclear
research institute the Geselleschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) bombarded bismuth with
chromium and they succeeded in making a single atom of isotope 262. Now followed a period
of negotiation to establish who discovered elements 107 first and thereby had the right to
name it.

Bohrium is a highly radioactive metal. At present, bohrium is of research interest only.

HASSIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 108 PROTON: 108 ELECTRON: 108 NEUTRON: 157 VALENCE
ELECTRON: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF HASSIUM ETYMOLOGY: Hassias ‘Hesse’ (the German
state)
Word Origin: Hassium was named for the German state Hessen. Its name is derived from the
Latin version of Hessen, Hassias. Discovery: Hassium was discovered in 1984. It was first
produced in Darmstadt, Germany, by a team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried
Münzenber.
There are 15 known isotopes of hassium with mass numbers 263 to 277, with isotope-276
having the longest half-life of 1.1 hour. The first attempt to synthesize element 108 took place
in 1978 at Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, where a team headed
by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov bombarded radium with calcium and got isotope
270. In 1983, they obtained other isotopes: by bombarding bismuth with manganese they got
isotope 263, by bombarding californium with neon they got isotope 270, and by bombarding
lead with iron they got isotope 264.

In 1984, at Germany’s Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, a team

headed by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg bombarded lead with iron and
synthesised isotope 265. Their data which was considered more reliable than that from JINR
and so they were allowed to name the element which they did, basing it on Hesse, the state in
which the GSI is located.

A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made. At present it is
only used in research.

MEITNERIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER : 109 PROTON : 109 ELECTRON : 109 NEUTRON :

157VALENCE ELECTRON : CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MEITNERIUM ETYMOLOGY : Lise
"Meitner“
Meitnerium was discovered by Peter Armbruster, Gottfried Münzenber and their co-workers. in
1982 at Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany... Origin of name:
named after Lise "Meitner", the Austrian physicist.

There are 7 isotopes of meitnerium with mass numbers in the range 266 to 279. The longest
lived is isotope 278 with a half-life of 8 seconds. Meitnerium was first made in 1982 at the
German nuclear research facility, the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), by a group
headed by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg. They bombarded a target of bismuth
with accelerated iron ions. After a week, a single atom of element 109, isotope 266, was
detected. This underwent radioactive decay after 5 milliseconds.

A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made. At present it is
only used in research.
UNUNBIUM/COPERNICIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER : 112 PROTON : 112 ELECTRON : 112 NEUTRON
: 165 VALENCE ELECTRON : CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF UNUNBIUM ETYMOLOGY : a
temporary name given to the super heavy chemical element Uub (element number 112), now
called Copernicium.
Copernicium was first created in 1996 by the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research near
Darmstadt, Germany. It is named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

The first atoms of element 112 were announced by Sigurd Hofmann and produced at the
Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) at Darmstadt, Germany, in 1996. Isotope-277 had
been produced by bombarding lead for two weeks with zinc travelling at 30,000 km per second.
Isotope-277 had a half-life of 0.24 milliseconds.

Since then, other isotopes of copernicium have been made. Isotope-285 was observed as part
of the decay sequence of flerovium (element 114) produced at the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Research (JINR) at Dubna, Russia, as was isotope-284 which was observed as part of the decay
sequence of livermorium (element 116).

A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made. It is thought to be
unreactive and more like a noble gas than a metal.
At present, it is only used in research.

NIOBIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER : 41 PROTON : 41ELECTRON : 41 NEUTRON : 52VALENCE

ELCTRON : 4d 5s ETYMOLOGY : after Niobe in Greek mythology, ‘daughter of Tantalus’
Tantalum was named after Tantalus, a Greek god, because isolating the pure metal tantalised
chemists. When a similar new element was 'discovered' by a German chemist in 1846,
he named it Niobium after Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus. In Greek mythology she is
portrayed weeping.

When examining minerals in the British Museum in 1801, Charles Hatchett was intrigued by a
specimen labelled columbite. He suspected it contained a new metal, and he was right. He
heated a sample with potassium carbonate, dissolved the product in water, added acid and got
a precipitate. However, further treatment did not produce the element itself, although he
named it columbium, and so it was known for many years.

Others doubted columbium, especially after the discovery of tantalum which happened the
following year. These metals occur together in nature, and are difficult to separate. In 1844 the
German chemist Heinrich Rose proved that columbite contained both elements and he
renamed columbium niobium.

A sample of the pure metal was produced in 1864 by Christian Blomstrand who reduced
niobium chloride by heating it with hydrogen gas.
A silvery metal that is very resistant to corrosion due to a layer of oxide on its surface.
Niobium is used in alloys including stainless steel. It improves the strength of the alloys,
particularly at low temperatures. Alloys containing niobium are used in jet engines and rockets,
beams and girders for buildings and oil rigs, and oil and gas pipelines.

This element also has superconducting properties. It is used in superconducting magnets for
particle accelerators, MRI scanners and NMR equipment.

Niobium oxide compounds are added to glass to increase the refractive index, which allows
corrective glasses to be made with thinner lenses.

IRIDIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER: 77 Proton: 77 Electron: 77Neutron: 115 VALENCE ELECTRON: 5d 6s

ETYMOLOGY: modern Latin, from Latin iris, irid- ‘rainbow’ (so named because it forms
compounds of various colors).

Iridium was discovered together with osmium in1803 by Smithson Tennant in London. When
crude platinum was dissolved in dilute aqua regia, which is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric
acids, it left behind a black residue thought to be graphite. Tennant thought otherwise, and by
treating it alternately with alkalis and acids he was able to separate it into two new elements.
These he announced at the Royal Institution in London, naming one iridium, because its salts
were so colourful and the other osmium because it had a curious odour (see osmium).

Despite its seeming intractability, a group of chemists, including the great Humphry Davy,
demonstrated in 1813 that iridium would indeed melt like other metals. To achieve this, they
exposed it to the powerful current generated by a large array of batteries.
Iridium is a hard, silvery metal. It is almost as unreactive as gold. It has a very high density and
melting point.
Iridium is the most corrosion-resistant material known. It is used in special alloys and forms an
alloy with osmium, which is used for pen tips and compass bearings. It was used in making the
standard metre bar, which is an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium. It is also used for the
contacts in spark plugs because of its high melting point and low reactivity.

DARMSTADIUM. ATOMIC NUMBER : 110PROTON : 110 ELECTRON : 110 NEUTRON :

151VALENCE ELECTRON : CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF DARMSTADIUM ETYMOLOGY :
Darmstadt , GERMANY
History and Uses: Darmstadtium was first produced by Peter Armbruster, Gottfried Münzenber
and their team working at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany
on November 9th, 1994. They bombarded atoms of lead with ions of nickel with a device known
as a linear accelerator.
There are 15 known isotopes of darmstadtium, isotopes 267-281, and the heaviest is the
longest-lived, with a half-life of 4 minutes.

There were several attempts to make element 110 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
(JINR) at Dubna in Russia, and at the German Geselleschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) at
Darmstadt, but all were unsuccessful. Then Albert Ghiorso and his team at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), California, obtained isotope 267 by bombarding bismuth
with cobalt, but they could not confirm their findings.

In 1994, a team headed by Yuri Oganessian and Vladimir Utyonkov at the JINR made isotope-
273 by bombarding plutonium with sulfur. The same year, a team headed by Peter Armbruster
and Gottfried Munzenberg at the GSI bombarded lead with nickel and synthesised isotope 269.
The latter group’s evidence was deemed more reliable and confirmed by others around the
world, so they were allowed to name element 110.

A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made.
At present, it is only used in research.