Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element
Iron electrolytic and 1cm 3 cube
A polished and chemically etched piece of an iron meteorite, believed to be similar in composition to the Earth's metallic core, showing individual crystals of the iron-nickel alloy (Widmanstatten pattern)
Banded iron formation in McKinley Park, Minnesota
Manganese is a chemical element; it has the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. First isolated in the 1770s, mangane
Iron
…bonding as they are attracted more and more into the inert core by the nucleus; however, they are higher than the values for the previous element manganese because that element has a half-filled 3d sub-shell and consequently its d-electrons are not easily delocalized. This same trend appears for ruthenium…
Pure manganese cube and oxidized manganese chips
Manganese(II) chloride crystals – the pale pink color of Mn(II) salts is due to a spin-forbidden 3d transition.
Aqueous solution of KMnO4 illustrating the deep purple of Mn(VII) as it occurs in permanganate
Some of the cave paintings in Lascaux, France, use manganese-based pigments.