An alloy such as stainless steel forms readily between transition metals because
- A. the metals react chemically to form a compound
- B. their atoms are of similar size and can substitute for one another in the lattice
- C. they have identical melting points
- D. they are all radioactive
Explanation
Atomic radii across a transition series change very little, since the added electrons enter an inner d subshell and shield the extra nuclear charge, so one metal can replace another in the lattice without disrupting it. The resulting alloy is a mixture rather than a compound. Chromium and nickel added to iron in this way give stainless steel its corrosion resistance.
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