Zinc Zn

Zinc is an essential trace element for all living things and a component of important enzymes. It also plays key roles in metabolism and cell growth. But it also plays a major role in technical applications. It is part of brass and is used in large quantities in the construction industry, architecture, automobile production and mechanical engineering. To the article about zinc on the Fascination Chemistry website.

Group 12 elements (zinc group)

The elements in this sub-group are zinc, cadmium, mercury and the artificially produced copernicium. Zinc and cadmium show similar properties in many areas and often occur together in minerals in nature. After its first member, it is also known as the zinc group. The zinc group is the last row of the subgroup. Their elements have a d-shell that is completely filled with electrons. The preferred oxidation number in this group is + II because only the s electrons are used for bonding.

(What was the s- and d-shell again? Read the article about the structure of the periodic table here ).