erbium

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

Pure erbium metal is soft and malleable and has a bright, silvery, metallic lustre. As with other rare-earth metals, its properties depend to a certain extent on impurities present. The metal is fairly stable in air and does not oxidise as rapidly as some of the other rare-earth metals.

General information

Discoveror: Carl G. Mosander
Date discovered: 1842
Discovered at: Sweden
Meaning of name: Named after the village of "Ytterby" near Vauxholm in Sweden

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 9066
Molar volume/cm³: 18.46

Radii /pm

Atomic: 226
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Er]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	203.1	no data	no data	26.8

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.24
Allred Rochow: 1.11

Crystal Structure

structure: hcp (hexagonal close-packed)

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 1770
boiling point: 3141

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 19.9
vaporization: 286

single bond enthalpies:

Er-F	Er-Cl	Er-Br	Er-I	Er-Er
no data	no data	no data	310	no data

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	589
2nd	1151
3rd	2194
4th	4115
5th	6280

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
162Er	161.928775 (4)	0.14 (1)
164Er	163.929198 (4)	1.61 (1)
166Er	165.930290 (4)	33.6 (2)
167Er	166.932046 (4)	22.95 (15)
168Er	167.932368 (4)	26.8 (2)
170Er	169.935461 (4)	14.9 (1)

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW