JEE Main 2024 — D And F Block Elements Question with Solution

The element among the given options that shows only one oxidation state other than its elemental form is Scandium.

Explanation:

• Nickel (Ni) can have multiple oxidation states, including +2 and +3, with +2 being the most common.
• Titanium (Ti) also shows various oxidation states, most commonly +4 and +2, due to its ability to lose electrons from both its 3d and 4s subshells.
• Cobalt (Co) commonly exists in the +2 and +3 oxidation states, among others, due to electron transitions in its 3d orbitals.
• Scandium (Sc), however, primarily exhibits a +3 oxidation state in its compounds (excluding its 0 state in the elemental form). This is because scandium has an electronic configuration of [Ar]3d¹4s², and it loses all three outer electrons to achieve a stable configuration, resulting in a +3 oxidation state. It does not commonly exhibit other oxidation states because removing more than three electrons would require removing electrons from the very stable noble gas core configuration ([Ar]), which is energetically unfavorable.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option D: Scandium.