Ytterbium tends to be more reactive than other lanthanide metals. It is stored in sealed containers to prevent the metal from reacting with oxygen. The pure metal has only a few uses. A small amount of ytterbium is used in steelmaking, while its compounds are used in some lasers.
Summary of properties (Yb)
| Atomic weight | 173.045(10) |
| Discoverer (year) | De Marignac, Jean Charles Galissard (1878) |
| Natural form | metallic solid (face centered cubic) |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f 14 6s2 |
| Melting point (ºC) | 824 |
| Boiling point (ºC) | 1466 |
| Abundance in earth's crust (ppm) | 3.2 |
| Isotope (abundance) | 168Yb (0.13), 170Yb (3.04), 171Yb (14.28), 172Yb (21.83), 173Yb (16.13), 174Yb (31.83), 176Yb (12.76) |
| Density g/cm3 | 6.9 |
| Van der Waals radius (pm) | 226 |
| Covalent radius (pm) | 178 |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | |
| Vaporization enthalpy (kJ/mol) | 159.00 |
| Enthalpy of fusion (kJ/mol) | 7.66 |
| Specific heat capacity (J/g·K) at 25ºC and 1 atm | 0.16 |
| Thermal conductivity (W/cm·K) at 25ºC and 1 atm | 0.390 |
| Oxidation state | +3, +2 |
| Electron affinity (eV) | -0.02 |
| 1st Ionization potential (eV) | 6.2542 |
