nickel

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

Description

Nickel is found as a constituent in most meteorites and often serves as one of the criteria for distinguishing a meteorite from other minerals. Iron meteorites, or siderites, may contain iron alloyed with from 5 to nearly 20% nickel. The USA 5-cent coin (whose nickname is "nickel") contains just 25% nickel.

Nickel is a silvery white metal that takes on a high polish. It is hard, malleable, ductile, somewhat ferromagnetic, and a fair conductor of heat and electricity.

Nickel carbonyl, [Ni(CO)₄], is an extremely toxic gas and exposure should not exceed 0.007 mg M^-3.

General information

Discoveror: Axel Fredrik Cronstedt
Date discovered: 1751
Discovered at: Sweden
Meaning of name: From the German word "kupfernickel" meaning Devil's copper or St Nicholas's (OLd Nick's) copper

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: lustrous, metallic, silvery tinge
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 8908
Molar volume/cm³: 6.59

Radii /pm

Atomic: 149
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Ni]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	127.6	no data	33.8	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.91
Allred Rochow: 1.75

Crystal Structure

structure: ccp (cubic 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: 1728
boiling point: 3186

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 17.3
vaporization: 378

single bond enthalpies:

Ni-F	Ni-Cl	Ni-Br	Ni-I	Ni-Ni
no data	no data	no data	312.5	203.26

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	736.7
2nd	1753.0
3rd	3393
4th	5300
5th	7280
6th	10400
7th	12800
8th	15600

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
58Ni	57.9353462 (16)	68.077 (9)
60Ni	59.9307884 (16)	26.223 (8)
61Ni	60.9310579 (16)	1.140 (1)
62Ni	61.9283461 (16)	3.634 (2)
64Ni	63.9279679 (17)	0.926 (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