rhenium

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

Description

Rhenium is silvery white with a metallic lustre; its density is exceeded only by that of platinum, iridium, and osmium, and its melting point is exceeded only by that of tungsten and carbon. It has other useful properties. It is expensive but useful as a trace alloying agent.

General information

Discoveror: Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, Otto Berg
Date discovered: 1925
Discovered at: Germany
Meaning of name: From the Greek word "Rhenus" meaning river "Rhine"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: greyish white
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 21020
Molar volume/cm³: 8.86

Radii /pm

Atomic: 188
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Re]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	160.0	no data	73.9	21.9

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 1.9
Allred Rochow: 1.46

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: 3459
boiling point: 5869

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 34.0
vaporization: 706

single bond enthalpies:

Re-F	Re-Cl	Re-Br	Re-I	Re-Re
no data	no data	no data	no data	no data

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	760

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
185Re	184.952951 (3)	37.40 (2)
187Re	186.955744 (3)	62.60 (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