Chemistry
Like other groups, the members of this family show patterns in its electron configuration, especially the outermost shells, though niobium curiously does not follow the trend:
| Z | Element | No. of electrons/shell |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | vanadium | 2, 8, 11, 2 |
| 41 | niobium | 2, 8, 18, 12, 1 |
| 73 | tantalum | 2, 8, 18, 32, 11, 2 |
| 105 | dubnium | 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 11, 2 |
Most of the chemistry has been observed only for the first three members of the group, the chemistry of dubnium is not very established and therefore the rest of the section deals only with vanadium, niobium, and tantalum. All the elements of the group are reactive metals with a high melting points (1910 °C, 2477 °C, 3017 °C). The reactivity is not always obvious due to the rapid formation of a stable oxide layer, which prevents further reactions, similarly to trends in Group 3 or Group 4. The metals form different oxides: vanadium forms vanadium(II) oxide, vanadium(III) oxide, vanadium(IV) oxide and vanadium(V) oxide, niobium forms niobium(II) oxide, niobium(IV) oxide and niobium(V) oxide, but out of tantalum oxides only tantalum(V) oxide is characterized. Metal(V) oxides are generally nonreactive and act like acids rather than bases, but the lower oxides are less stable. They, however, have some unusual properties for oxides, such as high electric conductivity.
All three elements form various inorganic compounds, generally in the oxidation state of +5. Lower oxidation states are also known, but they are less stable, decreasing in stability with atomic mass increase.
Read more about this topic: Group 5 Element
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