Holmium

67
Ho
Group
n/a
Period
6
Block
f
Protons
Electrons
Neutrons
67
67
98
General Properties
Atomic Number
67
Atomic Weight
164.93032
Mass Number
165
Category
Lanthanides
Colour
Silver
Radioactive
No
From the Latin word Holmia meaning Stockholm
Crystal Structure
Simple Hexagonal
History
Holmium was discovered by Swiss chemists Marc Delafontaine and Jacques-Louis Soret in 1878.

They noticed the aberrant spectrographic absorption bands of the then-unknown element.

Later in 1878, Per Teodor Cleve independently discovered the element while he was working on erbia earth.
Electrons per shell
2, 8, 18, 29, 8, 2
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f11 6s2
Ho
Holmium has the highest magnetic strength of any naturally occurring element
Physical Properties
Phase
Solid
Density
8.795 g/cm3
Melting Point
1734.15 K | 1461 °C | 2661.8 °F
Boiling Point
2993.15 K | 2720 °C | 4928 °F
Heat of Fusion
17 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization
265 kJ/mol
Specific Heat Capacity
0.165 J/g·K
Abundance in Earth's crust
0.00012%
Abundance in Universe
5×10-8%
Ultrapure
Image Credits: Images-of-elements
Ultrapure holmium
CAS Number
7440-60-0
PubChem CID Number
23988
Atomic Properties
Atomic Radius
176 pm
Covalent Radius
192 pm
Electronegativity
1.23 (Pauling scale)
Ionization Potential
6.0215 eV
Atomic Volume
18.7 cm3/mol
Thermal Conductivity
0.162 W/cm·K
Oxidation States
3
Applications
Holmium is used to create the strongest artificially generated magnetic fields, when placed within high-strength magnets as a magnetic pole piece.

It is one of the colourants used for cubic zirconia and glass, providing yellow or red colouring.

Holmium isotopes are good neutron absorbers and are used in nuclear reactor control rods.
Holmium is considered to be of low toxicity
Isotopes
Stable Isotopes
165Ho
Unstable Isotopes
140Ho, 141Ho, 142Ho, 143Ho, 144Ho, 145Ho, 146Ho, 147Ho, 148Ho, 149Ho, 150Ho, 151Ho, 152Ho, 153Ho, 154Ho, 155Ho, 156Ho, 157Ho, 158Ho, 159Ho, 160Ho, 161Ho, 162Ho, 163Ho, 164Ho, 166Ho, 167Ho, 168Ho, 169Ho, 170Ho, 171Ho, 172Ho, 173Ho, 174Ho, 175Ho