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Q.Why are the compounds of transition elements mostly coloured? OR Why do the transition elements are more prone to form complexes?

West Bengal WbchseWest Bengal HS (WBCHSE) Board 2025Subjective· 1mImportance★★★★★
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Colour in transition-metal compounds arises from d-d transitions; complex-forming tendency arises from small size, high charge, and available empty d orbitals.

Why coloured: Most transition metal ions have partially filled d orbitals (d1d^1 to d9d^9). In the free ion these five d orbitals are degenerate, but in a compound/complex, surrounding ligands split them into sets of different energies (crystal field splitting). An electron can absorb a photon of visible light and get promoted from a lower-energy d orbital to a higher-energy one (a d-d transition). Since only certain wavelengths of visible light are absorbed for this transition, the compound transmits/reflects the complementary colour, making it appear coloured. (Ions with either empty, d0d^0, or completely filled, d10d^{10}, d orbitals — like Sc3+Sc^{3+} or Zn2+Zn^{2+} — are usually colourless because no d-d transition is possible.)

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