Erbium - ASCII Periodic Table of the Elements

ASCII PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS

  Er

Relative atomic mass: 167.259 ± 0.003

English: Erbium
French: Erbium
Croatian: Erbij
German: Erbium
Italian: Erbio
Spanish: Erbio

Atomic number: 68
Group numbers: 3
Period: 6
Standard state (20 °C): solid

Discovery: 1843 Carl Gustav Mosander (SE)

Erbium was discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander (SE) in 1843. Named after 'Ytterby', a village in Sweden. It is a soft, malleable, silvery metal that reacts slowly with water and dissolves in acids. Metal ignites and burns readily. Erbium is found with other heavier rare earths in xenotime and euxenite. Erbium oxide is used in ceramics to obtain a pink glaze. There are also a few uses in the nuclear industry and as an alloying agent for other exotic metals.

Electronic configuration: [Xe] 4f¹² 6s²
Formal oxidation number: +3
Atomic radius: 173.4 pm

Electronegativities: 1.24
Thermal conductivity: 14.3 W/(m K)
Electrical resistivity (20 °C): 107 μΩcm

Melting point: 1529 °C
Boiling point: 2868 °C

Heat of fusion: 17.2 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization: 280 kJ/mol
Heat of atomization: 318.32 kJ/mol