INTRODUCTION
Lithium is the lightest in weight of all metals. In group one of the periodic table, lithium is one of the alkali metals. It ranks 35th in order of abundance of the elements in Earth’s crust.
It tarnishes instantaneously and corrodes rapidly upon exposure to air, when it is stored it must be immersed in a liquid such as naphtha.It does not occur in nature in the free state but only in compounds, which are widely distributed.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 3
- Atomic Mass
- 6.938
- Atomic radius
- 0.123
- Ionization energy
- 520
- Electronic config
- 2,1
- Principal Valency
- +1
- Density g/cm³
- 0.54
- Melting point °C
- 180.54
- Boiling point °C
- 1342
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- 1.0
- Element Category
- Alkali Metal
- Appearance
- Silvery white solid
- Block
- s-block
- Period
- 2
- Group
- 1
- No of Isotopes
- 9
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 18
- Year of Discovery
- 1817
EXTRACTION
It is extracted by the electrolysis of it's fused salt (often Halide).
OXIDATION STATES
+1 (Strongly Basic)
MAJOR SOURCE
Silicate Minerals
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
LiOH LiH LiCl
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Lithium is used to make electrochemical cells (both primary and secondary)
* Lithium vapor is used to prevent carbon dioxide and oxygen from forming scale in furnaces in heat-treating steel.
* Lithium carbonate, a common mineral, is used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and some forms of depression.
* It is used to make alloys and it's stearate is used in making automobile grease
