how do you determine the reactivity of transition metals....???

I don`t, I use an electromotive series chart to back-up what`s IN and what isn`t in memory, trying to memorise this or work it out adds needless time.

 

it`s all about ballance, how many available electrons in the outer shell and how close or far away from the nucleus. that all has the weighed up and calculated

 

Pauling did an admirable job with respect to percentage of Ionic difference, you`de be favoured reading his calcs, personaly I can`t be bothered, anymore than I can be to memorise the PTOE.

 

I`de start there tho

http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/mas.html

 

(most reactive)

Lithium

Potassium

Calcium

Sodium

Magnesium

Aluminum

Manganese

Zinc

Chromium

Iron

Lead

Copper

Mercury

Silver

Platinum

Gold

 

(Least Reactive)

information can be found in linus pauling's works.

 

just a note: electronegativity does not directly correlate with activity.

 

by the way, we would use activity and not reactivity, as reactivity implies the presence of another reactant. one could say that, say, iodine is more reactive than sodium when mixed with lithium. we could also say that molten lead is more reactive with oxygen than, say, iron.

 

activity is based on potential differences- oxidation and reduction potentials.

I should clarify that the list I provided above ranks elements by activity.