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Compare Lithium vs Rubidium

Comparing Lithium (Li) and Rubidium (Rb). Atomic numbers 3 and 37 with atomic masses 6.938 u and 85.468 u, classified as alkali metal and alkali metal. Below: a side-by-side comparison of their physical, atomic, electron-configuration and historical properties, including density, melting and boiling points, ionization energies, oxidation states and discovery history.

vs
Li
Lithium
#3
Rb
Rubidium
#37

Periodic properties of the elements

LithiumRubidium
SymbolLiRb
Atomic number337
Group11
Period25
Blockss
Element categoryAlkali MetalAlkali Metal

Physical properties

LithiumRubidium
Phase at STPSolidSolid
Density0.534 g/cm31.532 g/cm3
Atomic weight6.938 u85.4678 u
Melting point453.65 K
180.5 °C
356.9 °F		312.45 K
39.3 °C
102.74 °F
Boiling point1603 K
1329.85 °C
2425.73 °F		961 K
687.85 °C
1270.13 °F

Atomic properties

LithiumRubidium
Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)0.980.82
Electron affinity59.6326 kJ/mol46.884 kJ/mol
Oxidation states+1
(a strongly basic oxide)		−1, +1
(a strongly basic oxide)
Ionization energies
  1. 520.2 kJ/mol
  2. 7298.1 kJ/mol
  3. 11815 kJ/mol
  1. 403 kJ/mol
  2. 2633 kJ/mol
  3. 3860 kJ/mol
  4. 5080 kJ/mol
  5. 6850 kJ/mol
  6. 8140 kJ/mol
  7. 9570 kJ/mol
  8. 13120 kJ/mol
  9. 14500 kJ/mol
  10. 26740 kJ/mol

Electron configuration

LithiumRubidium
Shorthand configuration[He] 2s1 [Kr] 5s1
Full configuration1s2 2s1 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 5s1
Electrons per shell2, 12, 8, 18, 8, 1

History

LithiumRubidium
DiscoveryJohan August Arfwedson (1817)Robert Bunsen, Gustav Kirchhoff (1861)
First isolationWilliam Thomas Brande, Sir Humphrey Davy (1821)Robert Bunsen (1863)
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