Publisher's Synopsis
This Block comprises two main parts, each largely concerned with the relative stabilities of the +2 and +3 oxidation states of metals of the first transition series. The first part runs from the Introduction to the end of Section 3.1. It uses thermodynamics and the theories introduced in Block 2, to complete our analysis of the cross-series stability problem raised in Block 1.The second part of the Block (Sections 4 to 7) looks at a complementary problem: the effect of complex formation on the relative stability of oxidation states of a given transition element. To analyse this problem requires two results of far-reaching importance - the stability constant of a complex and the Nernst equation: there are introduced in Sections 4.2 and 5.2, respectively.
