68
Er
167.259
Erbium
Lanthanide
Period 6
Block f
Erbium is a chemical element of the periodic table with chemical symbol Er and atomic number 68 with an atomic weight of 167.259 u and is classed as lanthanide. Erbium is solid at room temperature.
Erbium in the periodic table
| Symbol | Er |
| Atomic number | 68 |
| Group | - |
| Period | 6 |
| Block | f |
| Classification | Lanthanide |
| Appearance | Silvery white |
| Color | Silver |
| Number of protons | 68 p+ |
| Number of neutrons | 99 n0 |
| Number of electrons | 68 e- |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaErbium 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.
Physical properties
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 9.066 g/cm3 |
| Atomic weight | 167.259 u |
Thermal properties
| Melting point | 1802 K 1528.85 °C 2783.93 °F |
| Boiling point | 3141 K 2867.85 °C 5194.13 °F |
| Heat of vaporization | 292.88 kJ/mol |
Atomic properties
| Electronegativity (Pauling Scale) | 1.24 |
| Electron affinity | 30.1 kJ/mol |
| Oxidation states | 0, +1, +2, +3 (a basic oxide) |
| Ionization energies |
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Electron configuration for erbium
Electron configuration Shorthand configuration | [Xe] 4f12 6s2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full configuration | 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f12 5s2 5p6 6s2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electron configuration chart |
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| Electrons per shell | 2, 8, 18, 30, 8, 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outer shell electrons | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valency electrons | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bohr model | Figure: Shell diagram of Erbium (Er) atom. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital Diagram
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The history of Erbium
| Discovery | Carl Gustaf Mosander (1843) |
Discovery of erbium Erbium (for Ytterby, a village in Sweden) was discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843. Mosander was working with a sample of what was thought to be the single metal oxide yttria, derived from the mineral gadolinite. He discovered that the sample contained at least two metal oxides in addition to pure yttria, which he named "erbia" and "terbia" after the village of Ytterby where the gadolinite had been found. Mosander was not certain of the purity of the oxides and later tests confirmed his uncertainty. Not only did the "yttria" contain yttrium, erbium, and terbium; in the ensuing years, chemists, geologists and spectroscopists discovered five additional elements: ytterbium, scandium, thulium, holmium, and gadolinium. | |
| Original word | Ytterby |
| Language of origin | Swedish |
| Name source | Place |
| Meaning | “Ytterby” |
| Country | Sweden |
Naming The name is derived from the Swedish village of Ytterby near Vaxholm, the same source as terbium, ytterbium and yttrium. | |