Chemical element · Atomic number 62
Samarium
Samarium in the periodic table: atomic number 62, electron configuration, atomic mass, physical data, oxidation states, media credit and visible sources.
Lanthanide
solid
150.4 u
Documented element sampleAbout six grams of oxidised samarium shards taken from a larger piece.
Image credit: brainandforce
Auto-oriented, limited to 1600 × 1200 pixels and re-encoded as WebP; the subject was not altered.
Atomic classification
Shell occupancy
Samarium in the Bohr shell model
This shows the electron distribution of the neutral atom in a simplified shell model.
- K · n=1
- 2 electrons
- L · n=2
- 8 electrons
- M · n=3
- 18 electrons
- N · n=4
- 24 electrons
- O · n=5
- 8 electrons
- P · n=6
- 2 electrons
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f6
- Electrons per shell
- 2 · 8 · 18 · 24 · 8 · 2
- Group
- not reported
- Period
- 6
- Block
- F
- Element category
- Lanthanide
Physical and chemical properties
- Atomic mass
- 150.4 u
- Standard state
- solid
- Density
- 7.52 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1,347 K
- Boiling point
- 2,067 K
- Electronegativity
- 1.17 (Pauling)
- First ionisation energy
- 5.644 eV
- Oxidation states
- +3, +2
- Discovery
- 1879
Safety and periodic classification
Safety
Safe handling cannot be inferred from Samarium's position in the periodic table alone. Laboratory, classroom and disposal decisions must follow the documentation for the exact material and its safety data sheet.
Position and comparison
Samarium is in period 6 and the F block. Its direct neighbours by atomic number are Promethium and Europium. The recorded Pauling electronegativity is 1.17. Periodic trends are compared only through the separately sourced neighbouring values.
Sources and scope
PubChem attributes element data to sources including IUPAC, NIST and IAEA. Quanta stores the referenced snapshot locally and leaves unknown values unavailable.
Where Samarium sits among the 118 elements
The table compares the reported values for Samarium with every other element that carries the same value in the snapshot. A rank is not a judgement, it is orientation: it says how unusual this value is across the periodic table.
| Value | Samarium | Position in the data set |
|---|---|---|
| Melting point | 1,347 K | Rank 43 of 103 elements with a reported value. Highest: Carbon. |
| Boiling point | 2,067 K | Rank 56 of 93 elements with a reported value. Highest: Rhenium. |
| Density | 7.52 g/cm³ | Rank 42 of 96 elements with a reported value. Highest: Osmium. |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.17 | Rank 80 of 95 elements with a reported value. Highest: Fluorine. |
| Ionisation energy | 5.644 eV | Rank 87 of 102 elements with a reported value. Highest: Helium. |
All values and ranks come from the PubChem Periodic Table snapshot, retrieved on 2026-07-15. Elements without a reported value are excluded, so the population differs per row.
The neighbours of Samarium in the periodic table
- Place in the table
- No group number, period 6, F block. Classified as lanthanide, solid at standard conditions.
- Direct neighbours
- Atomic number 62. Preceded by Promethium, followed by Europium.
- Discovery
- Recorded in the snapshot as: 1879. Who, where and under what circumstances is not part of that record, so this page carries the sourced year and no discovery narrative.
- Oxidation states
- +3, +2. They follow from the electron configuration [Xe]6s2 4f6 and indicate which compounds to expect.
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