Silver Indium

Cadmium (Cd)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCadmium is a chemical element with symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and like mercury it shows a low melting point compared to transition metals.

Cadmium in the periodic table

Symbol

Atomic number

Group

Period

Block

Element category

Transition Metal

Physical properties

Phase at STP

Solid

Density

8.65 g/cm³

Atomic weight

112.414 u

Melting point

594.22 K
321.07 °C
609.926 °F

Boiling point

1040 K
766.85 °C
1412.33 °F

Atomic properties

Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)

1.69

Electron affinity

-68 kJ/mol

Oxidation states

−2, +1, +2
(a mildly basic oxide)

Ionization energies

1	867.8 kJ/mol
2	1631.4 kJ/mol
3	3616 kJ/mol

Electron configuration

Elektronkonfiguration (shorthand)

[Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s²

Electron configuration

1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s²

Electrons per shell

2, 8, 18, 18, 2

History

Discovered

1817

Discovered by

Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann
Friedrich Stromeyer
Karl Samuel Leberecht Hermann

Named by

Isotopes of cadmium