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Cesium Facts

Chemical & Physical Properties

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., About.com

Cesium is a soft silvery-gold metal.

Cesium is a soft silvery-gold metal with a melting point of 28°C (83°F). The element is shown here in liquid form.

Justin Urgitis, wikipedia.org
Periodic Table of the Elements

Cesium

Atomic Number: 55

Symbol: Cs

Atomic Weight: 132.90543

Element Classification: Alkali Metal

Discoverer: Gustov Kirchoff, Robert Bunsen

Discovery Date: 1860 (Germany)

Name Origin: Latin: coesius (sky blue); named for the blue lines of its spectrum

Density (g/cc): 1.873

Melting Point (K): 301.6

Boiling Point (K): 951.6

Appearance: extremely soft, ductile, light gray metal

Atomic Radius (pm): 267

Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 70.0

Covalent Radius (pm): 235

Ionic Radius: 167 (+1e)

Specific Heat (@20°C J/g mol): 0.241

Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 2.09

Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 68.3

Pauling Negativity Number: 0.79

First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 375.5

Oxidation States: 1

Electronic Configuration: [Xe] 6s1

Lattice Structure: Body-Centered Cubic

Lattice Constant (Å): 6.050

References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Lange's Handbook of Chemistry (1952)

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