lithium

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

Description

Lithium is a Group 1 (IA) element containing just a single valence electron (1s²2s¹). Group 1 elements are called alkali metals. Lithium is a low density solid only about half as dense as water. A freshly cut lithium chunk is silvery but it tarnishes in a minute or so in air to give a grey surface. It is used in combination with aluminium and magnesium for light-weight alloys, and is also used in batteries, some greases, some glasses, and in medicine.

General information

Discoveror: Johan August Arfvedson
Date discovered: 1817
Discovered at: Stockholm, Sweden
Meaning of name: From the Greek word "lithos" meaning "stone"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white/grey
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 535
Molar volume/cm³: 13.02

Radii /pm

Atomic: 167
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Li]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	164.1	no data	no data	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 0.98
Allred Rochow: 0.97

Crystal Structure

structure: bcc (body-centred cubic)

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: 453.69
boiling point: 1615

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 3.00
vaporization: 147.1

single bond enthalpies:

Li-F	Li-Cl	Li-Br	Li-I	Li-Li
573	464	418	347	106.48

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	520.3
2nd	7298.1
3rd	11814.9

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
6Li	6.0151214 (7)	7.5 (2)
7Li	7.0160030 (9)	92.5 (2)

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