Lithium
A soft, light metal central to rechargeable batteries.
Inside the Lithium 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 Lithium atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[He] 2s1
A neutral Lithium atom has 3 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
- 454 K (181 °C)
- Boiling point
- 1603 K (1330 °C)
- Density
- 0.534 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 0.98 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 145 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 520 kJ/mol
- Category
- Alkali metals
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- 1817
- Discovered by
- Johan August Arfwedson
- Origin of name
- Greek 'lithos', meaning stone.
Notable uses
Rechargeable batteries, aircraft alloys, and mood-stabilizing medicines.
Where Lithium comes from
Several comparable sources
A trace was made in the Big Bang. The rest is linked to cosmic ray spallation and to some dying stars and novae.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 3
- Atomic mass
- 6.94
- Category
- Alkali metals
- Group · Period
- 1 · 2
- Block
- s-block
- Shells
- 2 · 1