Lead
A dense, soft, toxic metal used for radiation shielding.
Inside the Lead 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 Lead atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p2
A neutral Lead atom has 82 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
- 601 K (327 °C)
- Boiling point
- 2022 K (1749 °C)
- Density
- 11.342 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 1.87 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 180 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 716 kJ/mol
- Category
- Post-transition metals
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- Antiquity
- Discovered by
- Known since antiquity
- Origin of name
- Anglo-Saxon 'lead'; symbol from Latin 'plumbum'.
Notable uses
Car batteries, radiation shielding, and solders.
Where Lead comes from
Stellar fusion and dying stars
The endpoint of slow neutron capture. More lead keeps arriving as uranium and thorium decay.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 82
- Atomic mass
- 207.2
- Category
- Post-transition metals
- Group · Period
- 14 · 6
- Block
- p-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 18 · 4