Transition metals
Rhenium
A dense, rare metal used in jet engine superalloys.
Atomic #75Mass186.21Blockd-blockPeriod6Group7
Re75 · 186.21
3D Atom Explorer
Inside the Rhenium 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 Rhenium atom step by step.
Loading 3D atom…
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f14 5d5 6s2
A neutral Rhenium atom has 75 electrons (equal to its proton count). Choosing a different isotope above changes only the neutron count.
Shell distribution
Shell 12 e⁻Shell 28 e⁻Shell 318 e⁻Shell 432 e⁻Shell 513 e⁻Shell 62 e⁻
Electrons fill inner shells before outer ones; the outermost (valence) shell drives the element's chemistry.
Properties
Physical & atomic properties
- State (room temp)
- Solid
- Melting point
- 3459 K (3186 °C)
- Boiling point
- 5869 K (5596 °C)
- Density
- 21.02 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 1.9 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 135 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 760 kJ/mol
- Category
- Transition metals
History
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- 1925
- Discovered by
- Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, and Otto Berg
- Origin of name
- Latin 'Rhenus', the Rhine river.
Notable uses
Jet-engine superalloys and petroleum catalysts.
Cosmic origin
Where Rhenium comes from
Neutron star mergers
Chiefly an r-process element, forged where nuclei are flooded with neutrons.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 75
- Atomic mass
- 186.21
- Category
- Transition metals
- Group · Period
- 7 · 6
- Block
- d-block
- Shells
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 13 · 2