The Student Room Group

chemistry

hi, i know that zinc and scandium aren’t transition metals because they form ions with complete d sub shells, but i don’t understand why they lose electrons in the 4s sub shell first if they aren’t transition elements ? is it due to the fact that it’s still a d block element ?

Zn: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10
Zn2+: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10
Reply 1
it's a general rule with the 4s shell, "first in first out", regardless of whether it is a transition element or not. So it is because it's still a d block element. Hope this is useful👍

Quick Reply

Latest