gadolinium

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

Description

Gadolinium is silvery white, has a metallic lustre, and is is malleable and ductile. It is ferromagnetic (strongly attracted by a magnet).

The metal is relatively stable in dry air, but in moist air it tarnishes with the formation of a loosely adhering oxide film which "spalls" off and exposes more surface to oxidation. The metal reacts slowly with water and is soluble in dilute acid. Gadolinium has the highest thermal neutron capture cross-section of any known element.

General information

Discoveror: Jean de Marignac
Date discovered: 1880
Discovered at: Switzerland
Meaning of name: Named after J. "Gadolin", a Finnish chemist and minerologist

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 7901
Molar volume/cm³: 19.90

Radii /pm

Atomic: 233
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Gd]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	201.2	no data	102.1	29.7

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.20
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: 1585
boiling point: 3523

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 10.0
vaporization: 306

single bond enthalpies:

Gd-F	Gd-Cl	Gd-Br	Gd-I	Gd-Gd
no data	no data	no data	343	no data

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	593
2nd	1167
3rd	1990
4th	4240
5th	6250

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
152Gd	151.919786 (4)	0.20 (1)
154Gd	153.920861 (4)	2.18 (3)
155Gd	154.922618 (4)	14.80 (5)
156Gd	155.922118 (4)	20.47 (4)
157Gd	156.923956 (4)	15.65 (3)
158Gd	157.924019 (4)	24.84 (12)
160Gd	159.927049 (4)	21.86 (4)

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