070Lanthanide · Group 3 · Period 6

Ytterbium

Ytterbium (Yb) is element 70, a lanthanide in the f-block — group 3, period 6. It is a solid at room temperature with 6 electron shells (2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2) and an atomic mass of 173.0451 u.

Atomic mass: 173.0 u
Phase · STP: solid
Melting: 1097 K · 824 °C
Boiling: 1469 K · 1196 °C
Electronegativity: 1.1
Density: 6.9 g/cm³

Photograph — Jurii, CC BY 1.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, source: https://images-of-elements.com/ytterbium.php

Identity

Atomic number: 70
Standard atomic weight: 173.0 u
Category: Lanthanide
Group: 3
Period: 6
Block: f-block
Oxidation states: +3, +2

Physical properties

Melting point: 1097 K · 824 °C
Boiling point: 1469 K · 1196 °C
Density: 6.9 g/cm³
Molar heat capacity: 26.74 J/(mol·K)
Atomic radius: 242 pm
Electron affinity: -1.93 kJ/mol

Atomic structure

70protons

103neutrons

70electrons

2valence e⁻

Noble-gas notation: [Xe] 4f14 6s2
Full configuration: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14
Electrons per shell: 2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2

Periodic trends

Where Ytterbium ranks across all 118 elements.

Electronegativity1.1

Ionization energy603.4 kJ/mol

Electron affinity-1.93 kJ/mol

Density6.9 g/cm³

Atomic radius242 pm

Ionization energies

Energy to remove each successive electron (kJ/mol).

603.4

1.2k

2.4k

4.2k

Successive ionization energies (kJ/mol, log scale).

Discovery

Discovered: 1878
Discovered by: Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac
Named by: —
Appearance: —