Chemical element · Atomic number 70

Ytterbium

Ytterbium in the periodic table: atomic number 70, electron configuration, atomic mass, physical data, oxidation states, media credit and visible sources.

Lanthanide

solid

173.05 u

Silvery-gray sample of elemental ytterbium in an element collection — A documented sample of elemental ytterbium; the rare earth metal appears silvery-gray.
Image credit: James St. John
Auto-oriented, limited to 1600 × 1200 pixels and re-encoded as WebP; the subject was not altered.
Commons file Licence: CC BY 2.0

Atomic classification

Shell occupancy

Ytterbium 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: 32 electrons
O · n=5: 8 electrons
P · n=6: 2 electrons

Shell occupancy is derived from the versioned PubChem electron configuration. Dot angles are schematic and do not represent orbitals.

Electron configuration: [Xe]6s2 4f14
Electrons per shell: 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 8 · 2
Group: not reported
Period: 6
Block: F
Element category: Lanthanide

Physical and chemical properties

Atomic mass: 173.05 u
Standard state: solid
Density: 6.9 g/cm³
Melting point: 1,092 K
Boiling point: 1,469 K
Electronegativity: not reported
First ionisation energy: 6.254 eV
Oxidation states: +3, +2
Discovery: 1878

Safety and periodic classification

Safety

Safe handling cannot be inferred from Ytterbium'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

Ytterbium is in period 6 and the F block. Its direct neighbours by atomic number are Thulium and Lutetium. The snapshot does not report a Pauling electronegativity. 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 Ytterbium sits among the 118 elements

The table compares the reported values for Ytterbium 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	Ytterbium	Position in the data set
Melting point	1,092 K	Rank 59 of 103 elements with a reported value. Highest: Carbon.
Boiling point	1,469 K	Rank 65 of 93 elements with a reported value. Highest: Rhenium.
Density	6.9 g/cm³	Rank 51 of 96 elements with a reported value. Highest: Osmium.
Ionisation energy	6.254 eV	Rank 65 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 Ytterbium 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 70. Preceded by Thulium, followed by Lutetium.
Discovery: Recorded in the snapshot as: 1878. 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 4f14 and indicate which compounds to expect.

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