Li Lithium – Element Information, Facts, Properties, Trends,Uses, Comparison with other elements

Lithium History

The element Lithium was discovered by Johan August Arfwedson in year 1817 in Sweden . Lithium derived its name the Greek word lithos, meaning 'stone'

Lithium Presence: Abundance in Nature and Around Us

The table below shows the abundance of Lithium in Universe, Sun, Meteorites, Earth's Crust, Oceans and Human Body.

Crystal Structure of Lithium

The solid state structure of Lithium is Body Centered Cubic.

The Crystal structure can be described in terms of its unit Cell. The unit Cells repeats itself in three dimensional space to form the structure.

Unit Cell Parameters

The unit cell is represented in terms of its lattice parameters, which are the lengths of the cell edges Lattice Constants (a, b and c)

and the angles between them Lattice Angles (alpha, beta and gamma).

The positions of the atoms inside the unit cell are described by the set of atomic positions ( x_i, y_i, z_i) measured from a reference lattice point.

The symmetry properties of the crystal are described by the concept of space groups. All possible symmetric arrangements of particles in three-dimensional space are described by the 230 space groups (219 distinct types, or 230 if chiral copies are considered distinct.

Space Group Name	Im_ 3m
Space Group Number	229
Crystal Structure	Body Centered Cubic

Lithium Atomic and Orbital Properties

Lithium atoms have 3 electrons and the electronic shell structure is [2, 1] with Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers) ²S_1/2.

Atomic Number	3
Number of Electrons (with no charge)	3
Number of Protons	3
Mass Number	7
Number of Neutrons	4
Shell structure (Electrons per energy level)	[2, 1]
Electron Configuration	[He] 2s1
Valence Electrons	2s1
Oxidation State	1
Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers)	2S1/2

Shell Structure of Lithium - Electrons per energy level

n		s	p	d	f
1	K	2
2	L	1

Ground State Electronic Configuration of Lithium - neutral Lithium atom

The ground state electronic configuration of Neutral Lithium atom is [He] 2s1. The portion of Lithium configuration that is equivalent to the noble gas of the preceding period, is abbreviated as [He]. For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used.This is important as it is the Valence electrons 2s1, electrons in the outermost shell that determine the chemical properties of the element.

Unabbreviated electronic configuration of neutral Lithium

Complete ground state electronic configuration for the Lithium atom, Unabbreviated electronic configuration

1s2 2s1

Atomic Structure of Lithium

Lithium atomic radius is 167 pm, while it's covalent radius is 134 pm.

Atomic Spectrum of Lithium

Lithium Chemical Properties: Lithium Ionization Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of Lithium is 59.6 kJ/mol

Ionization Energy of Lithium

Refer to table below for Ionization energies of Lithium

Lithium Physical Properties

Refer to below table for Lithium Physical Properties

Elastic Properties

Hardness of Lithium - Tests to Measure of Hardness of Element

Lithium Electrical Properties

Lithium is Conductor of electricity. Refer to table below for the Electrical properties of Lithium

Lithium Heat and Conduction Properties

Lithium Magnetic Properties

Optical Properties of Lithium

Acoustic Properties of Lithium

Lithium Thermal Properties - Enthalpies and thermodynamics

Refer to table below for Thermal properties of Lithium

Enthalpies of Lithium

Lithium Isotopes - Nuclear Properties of Lithium

Isotopes of rhodium. Naturally occurring Lithium has 2 stable isotope - 6Li, 7Li.

Regulatory and Health - Health and Safety Parameters and Guidelines

Database Search

List of unique identifiers to search the element in various chemical registry databases