Erbium
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.
Physical properties
Values for the element in its standard state.
- Density
- 9.066g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1,770K
- Boiling point
- 3,141K
- Atomic radius
- Not available
- Bonding type
- Metallic
- Molar heat
- 28.12J/(mol·K)
Inside the atom
Electron arrangement and the energy behind its behavior.
Full electron configuration
[Xe] represents 54 core electrons. The full view shows them explicitly.
- Electronegativity
- 1.24Pauling scale
- First ionization energy
- 589kJ/mol
- Electron affinity
- 50kJ/mol
- Van der Waals radius
- Not available
About erbium
- Appearance
- Silvery white
- Discovery
- 1842 (Carl Gustaf Mosander)
- Data source
- Read the reference
A missing value means it is unavailable in this reference dataset. Values can vary with measurement method and conditions.