Erbium
Erbium is a chemical element in the lanthanide series, with symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements on Earth. As such, it is a rare earth element which is associated with several other rare elements in the mineral gadolinite from Ytterby in Sweden, where yttrium, ytterbium, and terbium were discovered.
A stylized shell model. Electrons are quantum objects, not particles following these literal paths. Sizes and motion are illustrative.
54 is the [Xe] core total across five shells.
At a glance
- Atomic number
- 68
- Atomic mass
- 167.2593 u
- Phase
- Solid
- Density
- 9.066 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1,802 K
- Boiling point
- 3,141 K
- First ionization energy
- 589.3 kJ/mol
- Electronegativity
- 1.24
- Electron affinity
- 30.1 kJ/mol
- Molar heat capacity
- 28.12 J/(mol·K)
- Period
- 6
- Appearance
- silvery white
Conditions and isotopes affect measured properties. Some properties of short-lived elements are predicted. Electronegativity uses the Pauling scale.
Keep exploring
Explore the stories, imagery, and reference data in more depth. Properties with no value in the reference are marked unavailable.