Physical States — Melting Points, Boiling Points, and Densities

 

In the periodic table above, black squares indicate elements which are solids at room temperature (about 22ºC)*, those in blue squares are liquids at room temperature, and those in red squares are gases at room temperature.

Most of the metals are solids under "ordinary" conditions (i.e., 25ºC, 1 atmosphere of pressure, etc.), with the exception of mercury (Hg, element 80), which solidifies at -39ºC, and is a freely-flowing liquid at room temperature.  Gallium (Ga, element 31) melts at 30ºC, slightly above room temperature, but is often indicated as a liquid on periodic tables, since the solid metal literally melts when held in the hand (since body temperature is about 37ºC).  (Since cesium melts at 28ºC, and francium at 27ºC, they are also indicated in blue on some tables, but anyone who holds cesium in their hands won't be holding much of anything afterwards!  See the page on alkali metals for more on cesium's high reactivity.)

Several of the nonmetals are gases in their elemental form.  Elemental hydrogen (H, element 1), nitrogen (N, element 7), oxygen (O, element 8), fluorine (F, element 9), and chlorine (Cl, element 17) are all gases at room temperature, and are found as diatomic molecules (H₂, N₂, O₂, F₂, Cl₂).  Bromine (Br, element 35), also found as a diatomic molecule (Br₂), is a liquid at room temperature, solidifying at -7.2ºC.  The noble gases of Group 8A (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and Rn) are all gases at room temperature (as the name of the group implies); since they are all unreactive, monatomic elements, their boiling points are extremely low.

Below is a table of the melting points, boiling points, and densities of the elements:

 

Atomic Number	Symbol	Name	Melting Point (ºC)	Boiling Point (ºC)	Density (g/cm3) (at 293 K)
1	H	Hydrogen	-259.14	-252.87	0.00008988 (gas, 273K)
2	He	Helium	-272.20 (under pressure)	-268.934	0.0001785 (gas, 273K)
3	Li	Lithium	180.54	1347	0.534
4	Be	Beryllium	1278	2970	1.8477
5	B	Boron	2300	3658	2.34
6	C	Carbon	3527	4827 (sublimes)	2.260 (graphite) 3.513 (diamond)
7	N	Nitrogen	-209.86	-195.8	0.0012506 (gas, 273K)
8	O	Oxygen	-218.4	-182.96	0.001429 (gas, 273K)
9	F	Fluorine	-219.62	-188.14	0.001696 (gas, 273K)
10	Ne	Neon	-248.67	-246.05	0.00089994 (gas, 273K)
11	Na	Sodium	97.81	882.9	0.971
12	Mg	Magnesium	648.8	1090	1.738
13	Al	Aluminum	660.37	2467	2.698
14	Si	Silicon	1410	2355	2.329
15	P	Phosphorus	44.1 (white) 410 (red, under pressure)	280 (white)	1.82 (white)
16	S	Sulfur	113 (α) 119 (b) 106.8 (g)	444.67	2.070 (α) 1.957 (b)
17	Cl	Chlorine	-100.98	-33.97	0.003214 (gas, 273K)
18	Ar	Argon	-189.37	-185.86	0.001784 (gas, 273K)
19	K	Potassium	63.65	774	0.862
20	Ca	Calcium	839	1484	1.55
21	Sc	Scandium	1541	2831	2.989
22	Ti	Titanium	1660	3287	4.54
23	V	Vanadium	1887	3377	6.11 (292 K)
24	Cr	Chromium	1857	2672	7.19
25	Mn	Manganese	1244	1962	7.44
26	Fe	Iron	1535	2750	7.874
27	Co	Cobalt	1495	2870	8.90
28	Ni	Nickel	1453	2732	8.902 (298 K)
29	Cu	Copper	1083.4	2567	8.96
30	Zn	Zinc	419.58	907	7.133
31	Ga	Gallium	29.78	2403	5.907
32	Ge	Germanium	937.4	2830	5.323
33	As	Arsenic	817 (under pressure)	616 (sublimes)	5.78 (α)
34	Se	Selenium	217	684.9	4.79
35	Br	Bromine	-7.3	58.78	3.1226
36	Kr	Krypton	-156.6	-152.30	0.0037493 (gas, 273 K)
37	Rb	Rubidium	39.0	688	1.532
38	Sr	Strontium	769	1384	2.54
39	Y	Yttrium	1522	3338	4.469
40	Zr	Zirconium	1852	4377	6.506
41	Nb	Niobium	2468	4742	8.57
42	Mo	Molybdenum	2617	4612	10.22
43	Tc	Technetium	2172	4877	11.5 (est.)
44	Ru	Ruthenium	2310	3900	12.37
45	Rh	Rhodium	1966	3727	12.41
46	Pd	Palladium	1552	3140	12.02
47	Ag	Silver	961.93	2212	10.5
48	Cd	Cadmium	320.9	765	8.65
49	In	Indium	156.17	2080	7.31 (298 K)
50	Sn	Tin	231.97	2270	5.75 (α) 7.31 (b)
51	Sb	Antimony	630.74	1635	6.691
52	Te	Tellurium	449.5	989.8	6.24
53	I	Iodine	113.5	184.35	4.93
54	Xe	Xenon	-111.9	-107.1	0.0058971 (gas, 273 K)
55	Cs	Cesium	28.40	678.4	1.873
56	Ba	Barium	729	1637	3.594
57	La	Lanthanum	921	3457	6.145 (298 K)
58	Ce	Cerium	799	3426	8.24 (a, 298 K)
59	Pr	Praseodymium	931	3512	6.773
60	Nd	Neodymium	1021	3068	7.007
61	Pm	Promethium	1168	ca. 2727	7.22 (298 K)
62	Sm	Samarium	1077	1791	7.52
63	Eu	Europium	822	1597	5.243
64	Gd	Gadolinium	1313	3266	7.9004 (298 K)
65	Tb	Terbium	1356	3123	8.229
66	Dy	Dysprosium	1412	2562	8.55
67	Ho	Holmium	1474	2695	8.795 (298 K)
68	Er	Erbium	1529	2863	9.066 (298 K)
69	Tm	Thulium	1545	1947	9.321
70	Yb	Ytterbium	824	1193	6.965
71	Lu	Lutetium	1663	3395	9.84 (298 K)
72	Hf	Hafnium	2230	5197	13.31
73	Ta	Tantalum	2996	5425	16.654
74	W	Tungsten	3407	5657	19.3
75	Re	Rhenium	3180	5627	21.02
76	Os	Osmium	3054	5027	22.59
77	Ir	Iridium	2410	4130	22.56 (290 K)
78	Pt	Platinum	1772	3827	21.45
79	Au	Gold	1064.43	2807	19.32
80	Hg	Mercury	-38.87	356.58	13.546
81	Tl	Thallium	303.5	1457	11.85
82	Pb	Lead	327.50	1740	11.35
83	Bi	Bismuth	271.3	1610	9.747
84	Po	Polonium	254	962	9.32
85	At	Astatine	302	337	n/a
86	Rn	Radon	-71	-61.8	0.00973 (gas, 273 K)
87	Fr	Francium	27	677	n/a
88	Ra	Radium	700	1140	5.00
89	Ac	Actinium	1047	3197	10.06
90	Th	Thorium	1750	4787	11.72
91	Pa	Protactinium	1840	4027	15.37
92	U	Uranium	1132.3	3745	18.95
93	Np	Neptunium	640	3902	20.25
94	Pu	Plutonium	641	3232	19.84 (α, 298 K)
95	Am	Americium	1172	2607	13.67
96	Cm	Curium	1337	n/a	13.3
97	Bk	Berkelium	1047	n/a	14.79
98	Cf	Californium	897	n/a	n/a
99	Es	Einsteinium	857	n/a	n/a
100	Fm	Fermium	n/a	n/a	n/a
101	Md	Mendelevium	n/a	n/a	n/a
102	No	Nobelium	n/a	n/a	n/a
103	Lr	Lawrencium	n/a	n/a	n/a
104	Rf	Rutherfordium	2100 (est.)	5500 (est.)	23 (est.)
105	Db	Dubnium	n/a	n/a	29
106	Sg	Seaborgium	n/a	n/a	35 (est.)
107	Bh	Bohrium	n/a	n/a	37 (est.)
108	Hs	Hassium	n/a	n/a	41
109	Mt	Meitnerium	n/a	n/a	n/a
110	Uun	Ununnilium	n/a	n/a	n/a
111	Uuu	Unununium	n/a	n/a	n/a
112	Uub	Ununbiium	n/a	n/a	n/a
113	—	——	———	———	———
114	Uuq	Ununquadium	n/a	n/a	n/a

Data taken from John Emsley, The Elements, 3rd edition.  Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* It doesn't matter what temperature a room is; it's always room temperature.

Stephen Wright