Holmium
The element with the highest magnetic strength known.
Inside the Holmium 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 Holmium atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f11 6s2
A neutral Holmium atom has 67 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
- 1734 K (1461 °C)
- Boiling point
- 2993 K (2720 °C)
- Density
- 8.795 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 1.23 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 175 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 581 kJ/mol
- Category
- Lanthanides
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- 1878
- Discovered by
- Marc Delafontaine and Jacques-Louis Soret
- Origin of name
- Latin 'Holmia', for Stockholm.
Notable uses
Powerful magnets and medical and industrial lasers.
Where Holmium comes from
Neutron star mergers
An r-process element, associated with neutron star mergers and related extreme environments.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 67
- Atomic mass
- 164.93
- Category
- Lanthanides
- Group · Period
- — · 6
- Block
- f-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 29 · 8 · 2