Erbium
Element 68 on the periodic table, symbol Er, group 3, period 6.
Erbium is a chemical element in the lanthanide series, with symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements on Earth. As such, it is a rare earth element which is associated with several other rare elements in the mineral gadolinite from Ytterby in Sweden, where yttrium, ytterbium, and terbium were discovered.
Appearance: silvery white
Properties
- Atomic Number
- 68
- Atomic Mass
- 167.2593 u
- Group
- 3
- Period
- 6
- Block
- f-block
- Category
- Lanthanide
- State at 25 °C
- Solid
- Melting Point
- 1,802 K · 1,528.9 °C
- Boiling Point
- 3,141 K · 2,867.9 °C
- Density
- 9.066 g/cm³
- Atomic Radius
- 175 pm
- Electronegativity
- 1.24
- Oxidation States
- +3
- Abundance in Crust
- 3.5 mg/kg
- Discovered
- 1843
- Discovered By
- Carl Gustaf Mosander
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f12 6s2
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f12
Ionisation Energies (kJ/mol)
- 1. 589.3
- 2. 1,150
- 3. 2,194
- 4. 4,120
Elements near Erbium
Elements in the same group share the number of outer electrons and behave in similar ways. Elements in the same period share a shell, so they change steadily from left to right.