Nickel

Nickel element periodic table

Nickel is a chemical element with the symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a hard, lustrous, and silver-white transition metal. Nickel is named after Old Nick, a demonic spirit in the Christian tradition that was believed to live underground. In the 18th century, German miners mistook a poisonous nickel ore, now known as nickeline, for copper ore. When this ore failed to produce copper, they named it Kupfernickel, meaning “old Nick’s copper“. Nickel is also found in other minerals, such as garnierite and pentlandite, which is the primary source of nickel. It is extracted from pentlandite through a process called smelting. This element is one of the most useful metals, with several applications. Because pure nickel does not oxidize, it is used to coat objects to make them look like silver, a trick still used to make inexpensive ornamental objects. Nickel is also mixed with copper to make an alloy called cupronickel. This is used as a coating on propellers and other metal parts of ships, since the alloy does not corrode in seawater. The same alloy is used in most of the world’s silver-plated coins. Nickel is also used in electric guitar strings. Thus, it is added to chromium to make an alloy called nicromium. Wires made from this alloy conduct heat very well, so they are used in toasters. It is also used in the production of catalysts and other chemicals, and in the manufacturing of ceramics and glass.

Nickel element periodic table

Electron configuration

The electron configuration of an element describes the arrangement of electrons in the atoms of that element, and be used to predict its chemical properties and reactivity.

In the electron configuration notation, the letters "s", "p", "d", and "f" represent the different types of atomic orbitals, and the superscripts indicate the number of electrons in each orbital. The orbitals are filled in a specific order, starting with the lowest energy orbital and working up.

electron configuration of element Ni

Emission spectra

Each element in the periodic table presents its own unique emission spectra, which is determined by the energy levels of its electrons. When an electron in an atom is excited to a higher energy level, it can de-excite by emitting a photon of light with an energy equal to the difference between the two levels. This results in a characteristic emission line in the spectra (which corresponds to specific wavelengths of light). These spectra are usefull to identify the elements present in a sample.

emmision spectra of element Ni

Symmary of properties (Ni)

Atomic weight 58.6934(4)
Discoverer (year) Cronstedt, Alex Fredrik (1751)
Natural form metallic solid (face-centred cubic)
Electron configuration [Ar] 3d8 4s2
M.p. (ºC) 1453
B.p. (ºC) 2732
Earth's crust abundance (ppm) 84
Isotope (abundance %) 58Ni (68.077), 60Ni (26.223), 61Ni (1.1399), 62Ni (3.6345), 64Ni (0.9255)
Density (g/cm3) 8.9
vdW radius (pm) 197
Covalent radius (pm) 117
Electronegativity (Pauling) 1.9
Vaporisation enthalpy (Kj/mol) 371.80
Fusion enthalpy (kJ/mol) 17.48
Specific heat capacity (J/g·K) at 25ºC and 1 at 0.44
Thermal conductivity (W/cm·K) at 25 ºC and 1 at 0.910
Oxidation number +3, +2
Electronic affinity (eV) 1.16
1st Ionization energy (eV) 7.6398

Definition of terms in the previous table

  • Atomic weight: The average mass of an element's atoms, typically given in atomic mass units (amu).
  • Natural form: The most stable and abundant form of an element that occurs naturally in the environment.
  • Electron configuration: The arrangement of electrons in an atom or molecule.
  • Melting point: The temperature at which a solid substance turns into a liquid.
  • Boiling point: The temperature at which a liquid substance turns into a gas.
  • Earth's crust abundance (ppm): The concentration of an element in the Earth's crust, typically given in parts per million (ppm).
  • Isotope (abundance %): A variant of an element that has the same number of protons in the nucleus, but a different number of neutrons. The abundance of an isotope is the percentage of the isotope in a sample of the element.
  • Density (g/cm3): The mass of a substance per unit volume.
  • vdW radius (pm): The radius of an atom or molecule as predicted by the van der Waals model, typically given in picometers (pm).
  • Covalent radius (pm): The distance from the center of an atom to the center of another atom with which it is bonded covalently, typically given in picometers (pm).
  • Electronegativity (Pauling): A measure of an atom's ability to attract electrons in a chemical bond, based on the Pauling scale.
  • Vaporisation enthalpy (kJ/mol): The amount of energy required to convert a substance from a liquid to a gas at a constant temperature.
  • Fusion enthalpy (kJ/mol): The amount of energy required to convert a substance from a solid to a liquid at a constant temperature.
  • Specific heat capacity (J/g·K) at 25ºC and 1 at: The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius at a constant pressure.
  • Thermal conductivity (W/cm·K) at 25 ºC and 1 at: The ability of a substance to conduct heat, typically given in watts per centimeter per kelvin.
  • Oxidation number: A positive or negative integer that represents the number of electrons that an atom has gained or lost in a chemical compound.
  • Electronic affinity: The energy change associated with adding an electron to a neutral atom to form a negative ion.
  • 1st Ionization energy: The energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron from a neutral atom.
 

Back to the Periodic Table of the Elements.

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