Question

Choose one of the transition or inner transition metals from the periodic table.

Discuss why your transition metal and their compounds display a variety of color. Be sure to include in your discussion, important oxidation states, the electron configuration and how the d-electrons are involved.

How can you include the electromagnetic spectrum and the nature of light into your discussion? How is energy and wavelength related? Use your knowledge of the emission and absorption of light.

HELP!!!!!!

Answer 1

There are two Principles which are responsible for colour of Transition metals .

1. Charge transfer transitions
2. d-d transitions

d-d transitions:

An electron jumps from one d-orbital to another. In complexes of the transition metals the d orbitals do not all have the same energy.CFT exaplain this splitting into lower and high energy orbitals i,e t 2g and e​​​​​​g​​​​​ orbitals.

A​​​​ CHARGE TRANSFER TRANSITION

A electron may jump from a predominantly ligand orbital to a predominantly metal orbital , giving rise to a ligand-to-metal charge-transfer (LMCT) transition. These can most easily occur when the metal is in a high oxidation state. For example, the colour of chromate, dichromate and permanganate ions is due to LMCT transitions.

Mn 7+  is purple colour due to charge transfer transistion .

Energy and wavelength are both inversely related . Light is absorb for electrons to "jump", but when this electrons comes back again to its ground state, light of specific intensity and wavelength is emitted . We see this as colors.