Read the following text carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The transition metals when exposed to oxygen at low and intermediate temperatures form thin, protective oxide films of up to some thousands of Angstroms in thickness. Transition metal oxides lie between the extremes of ionic and covalent binary compounds formed by elements from the left or right side of the periodic table. They range from metallic to semiconducting and deviate by both large and small degrees from stoichiometry. Since delectron bonding levels are involved, the cations-exist in various valence states and hence give rise to a large number of oxides. The crystal structures are often classified by considering a cubic or hexagonal close-packed lattice of one set of ions with the other set of ions filling the octahedral or tetrahedral interstices. The actual oxide structures, however, generally show departures from such regular arrays due in part to distortions caused by packing of ions of different size and to ligand field effects. These distortions depend not only on the number of d-electrons but also on the valence and the position of the transition metal in a period or group.
i. Why does copper, which is in first series of transition metal exhibits +1 oxidation state most frequently? (1)
ii. The lowest oxide of transition metal is basic. Why? (1)
iii. The variability in oxidation states of d-block different from that of the p-block elements. Explain. (2)