Question

What is the colour of zinc metal?
A. Reddish-brown
B. Silvery
C. White
D. Grey

Answer 1

Hint: We know that elements which are classified as metals, nonmetals and metalloids are arranged in the modern periodic table according to the orbitals of the valence electrons for that element. These specific divisions are known as blocks and a modern periodic table consists of four blocks which are s, p, d and f blocks.

Complete answer:
Zinc metal is a d-block element with atomic number 30. It is slightly brittle in nature in the room that consists of a silvery-greyish appearance which vanishes on oxidation. It is a diamagnetic material with a hexagonal crystal structure. Generally, zinc is used in the galvanization process in order to prevent corrosion of iron or other metals. Zinc is used in large quantities to produce die-castings which are important in electrical and hardware industries. It is also used in alloys like brass, nickel silver etc.
Zinc is naturally found in various ores. The major ores of zinc include zinc blende (zinc sulphide) and calamine (zinc silicate). Zinc is obtained from its ores from the following steps:
Concentration and roasting of ore
Reducing it by heating with carbon or through an electrolysis process to form zinc.
In its solid state, due to the metallic behaviour of zinc, it has a silvery appearance but when we consider salt and solution of zinc, it is observed that zinc in its solution is always colourless because of its diamagnetic nature.
Therefore, we can conclude that the zinc metal is silvery in colour. Thus, option (B) is the correct answer.

Note:
Remember that although being a d-block element, the zinc metal is not considered as the transition metal because it does not have a partially filled d-orbital neither in its elemental state nor in its oxidized state. The d-orbital of zinc metal is completely filled i.e., it does not have any unpaired electron and this is the reason it is diamagnetic in nature.