Answer» - All the transition elements are metals.
- They are hard, lustrous, malleable, ductile and they have high tensile strength.
- They have high melting points and boiling points.
- Their metallic character is due to vacant or partially filled (n – 1) d-orbitals, and they involve both metallic and covalent bonding.
- Since the strength of metallic bonds depends upon the number of unpaired electrons, it increases up to middle i.e., up to (n – 1 )d5, hence accordingly melting points and boiling points also increase.
- After (n – l)d5 configuration, the electrons start pairing, hence the metallic strength, melting points and boiling points decrease with the increase in atomic number.
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