holmium

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

Description

Holmium is relatively soft and malleable, and is stable in dry air at room temperature. It oxidises rapidly in moist air and at elevated temperatures. The metal has unusual magnetic properties. The metal is a rare earth metal found in monazite, gadolinite and other minerals.

General information

Discoveror: J. L. Soret and Delafontaine
Date discovered: 1878
Discovered at: Switzerland
Meaning of name: From the Greek word "Holmia" meaning "Sweden"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 8795
Molar volume/cm³: 18.74

Radii /pm

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

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	205.1	no data	no data	27.5

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.23
Allred Rochow: 1.10

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: 1734
boiling point: 2993

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 17.0
vaporization: 265

single bond enthalpies:

Ho-F	Ho-Cl	Ho-Br	Ho-I	Ho-Ho
no data	no data	no data	305	84

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	581
2nd	1139
3rd	2204
4th	4100
5th	6170

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
165Ho	164.930319 (4)	100

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