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Chemistry and Physics - What Are The Transition Elements?

What are the transition elements?

The transition elements are all metals. (Elements are pure substances that cannot be broken down into anything simpler by ordinary chemical means.) Most of them have high melting points and high densities, and many are of economic or technological importance. The transition elements occupy a central block on the periodic table. They include scandium through copper (atomic numbers 21-29), yttrium through silver (39-47), and lanthanum through gold (57-79). Some of the most valuable transition elements are gold, iron, copper, platinum, nickel, silver, and manganese.

Transition metals are good conductors of heat and electricity, meaning that heat and electricity easily flow through them. Compounds of transition elements often are colored. They have variable valances (number of electrons or protons they will shed when uniting with another element). A unique characteristic of transition...

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