Periodic Table/Polonium
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84Po209 Da

Polonium

Metalloid·Period 6, Group 16·p-block

Rare radioactive metallic element, belongs to group 16 of the periodic table. Over 30 known isotopes exist, the most of all elements. Po-209 has a half-life of 103 years. Possible uses in heating spacecraft. Discovered by Marie Curie in 1898 in a sample of pitchblende.

Gallery

This is only an illustration, not polonium itself. A silvery, radioactive metal, producing so much heat that it gets liquid and ionizes the surrounding air

Chemical ELements A Virtual Museum, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0> source: https://images-of-elements.com/polonium.php

Bohr model of Polonium

Physical Propertiesmass · density · phase · crystal

Atomic Mass

209Da

Density

9.2000g/cm³

Phase (STP)

Solid

Melting Point

527.1K

Boiling Point

1235.2K

Molar Heat

—

Crystal Structure

SC

Lattice Constant

3.350Å

Atomic Radiiatomic · covalent · van der Waals

Atomic (Empirical)

190.00pm

Covalent

145.00pm

Van der Waals

197.00pm

Electronic Propertieselectronegativity · ionization · affinity

Electron Configuration

[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4

Electron Shells

2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 6

Electronegativity

2Pauling

Electron Affinity

1.9kJ/mol

1st Ionization Energy

8.4kJ/mol

Oxidation States

-2, +2, +4, +5, +6

Orbital DiagramAufbau · Hund's rule · Pauli exclusion

↑↓
1s2
↑↓
2s2
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
2p6
↑↓
3s2
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
3p6
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
3d10
↑↓
4s2
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
4p6
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
4d10
↑↓
5s2
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
5p6
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
4f14
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
↑↓
5d10
↑↓
6s2
↑↓
↑
↑
6p4

Full: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4Short: [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4

Ionization Energies (84 known)

1st8.4 kJ/mol2nd19.3 kJ/mol3rd27.3 kJ/mol4th36.0 kJ/mol5th57.0 kJ/mol6th69.1 kJ/mol7th108.0 kJ/mol8th125.0 kJ/mol9th146.1 kJ/mol10th166.0 kJ/mol11th186.0 kJ/mol12th209.0 kJ/mol13th235.0 kJ/mol14th257.0 kJ/mol15th281.0 kJ/mol16th304.0 kJ/mol17th416.0 kJ/mol18th444.0 kJ/mol19th473.0 kJ/mol20th502.0 kJ/mol21th560.0 kJ/mol22th590.0 kJ/mol23th670.0 kJ/mol24th700.0 kJ/mol25th740.0 kJ/mol26th800.0 kJ/mol27th870.0 kJ/mol28th930.0 kJ/mol29th990.0 kJ/mol30th1060.0 kJ/mol31th1120.0 kJ/mol32th1180.0 kJ/mol33th1250.0 kJ/mol34th1320.0 kJ/mol35th1380.0 kJ/mol36th1440.0 kJ/mol37th1510.0 kJ/mol38th1570.0 kJ/mol39th1865.0 kJ/mol40th1923.0 kJ/mol41th1986.0 kJ/mol42th2052.0 kJ/mol43th2115.0 kJ/mol44th2177.0 kJ/mol45th2281.0 kJ/mol46th2345.0 kJ/mol47th2414.0 kJ/mol48th2480.0 kJ/mol49th2740.0 kJ/mol50th2803.0 kJ/mol51th2873.0 kJ/mol52th2938.0 kJ/mol53th3194.0 kJ/mol54th3268.0 kJ/mol55th3450.0 kJ/mol56th3524.2 kJ/mol57th5785.0 kJ/mol58th5930.0 kJ/mol59th6084.0 kJ/mol60th6248.0 kJ/mol61th6405.0 kJ/mol62th6557.0 kJ/mol63th6856.0 kJ/mol64th7015.0 kJ/mol65th7191.0 kJ/mol66th7350.0 kJ/mol67th7810.0 kJ/mol68th7950.0 kJ/mol69th8100.0 kJ/mol70th8240.0 kJ/mol71th9050.0 kJ/mol72th9220.0 kJ/mol73th9550.0 kJ/mol74th9710.0 kJ/mol75th20670.0 kJ/mol76th21050.0 kJ/mol77th21470.0 kJ/mol78th21860.0 kJ/mol79th24860.0 kJ/mol80th25360.0 kJ/mol81th25990.0 kJ/mol82th26390.4 kJ/mol83th105064.3 kJ/mol84th106983.4 kJ/molSuccessive Ionization Energies

Emission Spectrumvisible range · characteristic spectral lines

417
537
Po emission
380nm750nm
417.1 nm(100%)537.0 nm(40%)

Abundanceby mass

🌍Earth's Crust
2.0e-7 ppm
🌊Ocean—
✨Universe—
🧬Human Body—

Log scale · ppm = parts per million by mass

Biological Role

Toxic

Extremely radioactive and toxic. Famously used to poison Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

Discovery

Discovered By

Pierre and Marie Curie

Named By

—

Year

1898

Nuclear Data

Known Isotopes

42

Stable Isotopes

0

Stable Mass Numbers

None

Isotopes of Po42 known

NuclideZNMass (AMU)Half-lifeDecayJπAbundance
186Po84102186.00440334.0 μsα (1%), p0+—
187Po84103187.0030311.40 msα (1%), β⁺1/2-—
188Po84104187.999416270 μsα (1%), β⁺0+—
225Po84141225.037123Unknownβ⁻3/2+—
226Po84142226.040310Unknownβ⁻0+—
227Po84143227.045390Unknownβ⁻5/2+—

Click any isotope for its full page with decay chain:

186Po187Po188Po189Po190Po191Po192Po193Po194Po195Po196Po197Po198Po199Po200Po201Po202Po203Po204Po205Po206Po207Po208Po209Po210Po211Po212Po213Po214Po215Po216Po217Po218Po219Po220Po221Po222Po223Po224Po225Po226Po227Po
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