Bismuth
A heavy metal forming iridescent, rainbow-hued crystals.
Inside the Bismuth atom
Switch between Bohr and Quantum Cloud modes to compare a simple teaching model with a more realistic probability-based view, and follow the guided tour to explore the Bismuth atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p3
A neutral Bismuth atom has 83 electrons (equal to its proton count). Choosing a different isotope above changes only the neutron count.
Shell distribution
Electrons fill inner shells before outer ones; the outermost (valence) shell drives the element's chemistry.
Physical & atomic properties
- State (room temp)
- Solid
- Melting point
- 545 K (272 °C)
- Boiling point
- 1837 K (1564 °C)
- Density
- 9.807 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 2.02 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 160 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 703 kJ/mol
- Category
- Post-transition metals
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- 1753
- Discovered by
- Claude-François Geoffroy
- Origin of name
- German 'weisse masse', meaning white mass.
Notable uses
Cosmetics, stomach medicines, and lead-free alloys.
Where Bismuth comes from
Stellar fusion and dying stars
The heaviest element with a near-stable isotope, reached by both slow and rapid neutron capture.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 83
- Atomic mass
- 208.98
- Category
- Post-transition metals
- Group · Period
- 15 · 6
- Block
- p-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 18 · 5