Source of the photo
www.emporia.edu/.../amber/go336/morris/lead.jpg
Author of the description
Gruiz Katalin
Atomic number
| 82
| Atomic mass
| 207.2 g.mol -1
| Electronegativity
| 1.8
| Density
| 11.34 g.cm-3 at 20°C
| Melting point
| 327 °C
| Boiling point
| 1755 °C
| Vanderwaals radius
| 0.154 nm
| Ionic radius
| 0.132 nm (+2) ; 0.084 nm (+4)
| Isotopes
| 13
| Electronic shell
| [ Xe ] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p2
| Energy of first ionisation
| 715.4 kJ.mol -1
| Energy of second ionisation
| 1450.0 kJ.mol -1
| Energy of third ionisation
| 3080.7 kJ.mol -1
| Energy of fourth ionisation
| 4082.3 kJ.mol -1
| Energy of fifth ionisation
| 6608 kJ.mol -1
| Discovered by
| The ancients
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Lead is a bluish-white lustrous metal. It is very soft, highly malleable, ductile, and a relatively poor conductor of electricity. It is very resistant to corrosion but tarnishes upon exposure to air. Lead isotopes are the end products of each of the three series of naturally occurring radioactive elements.
Applications
Lead pipes bearing the insignia of Roman emperors, used as drains from the baths, are still in service. Alloys include pewter and solder. Tetraethyl lead (PbEt4) is still used in some grades of petrol (gasoline) but is being phased out on environmental grounds.
Lead is a major constituent of the lead-acid battery used extensively in car batteries. It is used as a coloring element in ceramic glazes, as projectiles, in some candles to threat the wick. It is the traditional base metal for organ pipes, and it is used as electrodes in the process of electrolysis. One if its major uses is in the glass of computer and television screens, where it shields the viewer from radiation. Other uses are in sheeting, cables, solders, lead crystal glassware, ammunitions, bearings and as weight in sport equipment.
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