Magnetic Properties of Transition Elements

Substances possess two types of magnetic behaviour, either diamagnetism or paramagnetism. Diamagnetic substances are either repelled or remain unaffected by an applied magnetic field whereas, paramagnetic substances are attracted towards the applied field.

There is a strong co-relation between the magnetic behaviour, electronic configuration and oxidation state. Paramagnetism arises due to the presence of unpaired electrons. Since transition metal ions generally contain unpaired electrons a large number of transition metal ions exhibit paramagnetic behavior.

Compounds containing Sc³⁺, Ti⁴⁺, V⁵⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Mn⁷⁺ and Cu⁺ ions are diamagnetic since these ions do not contain any unpaired electron.