Ni Nickel – Element Information, Facts, Properties, Trends,Uses, Comparison with other elements

Nickel History

The element Nickel was discovered by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt in year 1751 in Sweden . Nickel derived its name from Swedish kopparnickel, containing the German word Nickel, 'goblin'

Nickel Presence: Abundance in Nature and Around Us

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

Crystal Structure of Nickel

The solid state structure of Nickel is Face 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	Fm_ 3m
Space Group Number	225
Crystal Structure	Face Centered Cubic

Nickel Atomic and Orbital Properties

Nickel atoms have 28 electrons and the electronic shell structure is [2, 8, 16, 2] with Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers) ³F₄.

Atomic Number	28
Number of Electrons (with no charge)	28
Number of Protons	28
Mass Number	59
Number of Neutrons	31
Shell structure (Electrons per energy level)	[2, 8, 16, 2]
Electron Configuration	[Ar] 3d8 4s2
Valence Electrons	3d8 4s2
Oxidation State	-2;-1 1;2;3;4
Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers)	3F4

Shell Structure of Nickel - Electrons per energy level

n		s	p	d	f
1	K	2
2	L	2	6
3	M	2	6	8
4	N	2

Ground State Electronic Configuration of Nickel - neutral Nickel atom

The ground state electronic configuration of Neutral Nickel atom is [Ar] 3d8 4s2. The portion of Nickel configuration that is equivalent to the noble gas of the preceding period, is abbreviated as [Ar]. 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 3d8 4s2, electrons in the outermost shell that determine the chemical properties of the element.

Unabbreviated electronic configuration of neutral Nickel

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

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d8 4s2

Atomic Structure of Nickel

Nickel atomic radius is 149 pm, while it's covalent radius is 121 pm.

Atomic Spectrum of Nickel

Nickel Chemical Properties: Nickel Ionization Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of Nickel is 112 kJ/mol

Ionization Energy of Nickel

Refer to table below for Ionization energies of Nickel

Nickel Physical Properties

Refer to below table for Nickel Physical Properties

Elastic Properties

Hardness of Nickel - Tests to Measure of Hardness of Element

Nickel Electrical Properties

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

Nickel Heat and Conduction Properties

Nickel Magnetic Properties

Optical Properties of Nickel

Acoustic Properties of Nickel

Nickel Thermal Properties - Enthalpies and thermodynamics

Refer to table below for Thermal properties of Nickel

Enthalpies of Nickel

Nickel Isotopes - Nuclear Properties of Nickel

Isotopes of rhodium. Naturally occurring Nickel has 5 stable isotope - 58Ni, 60Ni, 61Ni, 62Ni, 64Ni.

Regulatory and Health - Health and Safety Parameters and Guidelines

Database Search

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