Using the periodic table, which of the following elements is most likely to have similar properties as calcium, and why? a. potassium (k), because they are both alkali metals b. magnesium (mg), because they are both alkaline earth metals c. scandium (sc), because they are both in the fourth period d. argon (ar), because they both have three energy levels

Challenge question: this question is worth 6 points. as you saw in problem 9 we can have species bound to a central metal ion. these species are called ligands. in the past we have assumed all the d orbitals in some species are degenerate; however, they often are not. sometimes the ligands bound to a central metal cation can split the d orbitals. that is, some of the d orbitals will be at a lower energy state than others. ligands that have the ability to cause this splitting are called strong field ligands, cnâ’ is an example of these. if this splitting in the d orbitals is great enough electrons will fill low lying orbitals, pairing with other electrons in a given orbital, before filling higher energy orbitals. in question 7 we had fe2+, furthermore we found that there were a certain number (non-zero) of unpaired electrons. consider now fe(cn)6 4â’: here we also have fe2+, but in this case all the electrons are paired, yielding a diamagnetic species. how can you explain this?