Lithium [Li] (CAS-ID: 7439-93-2) locate me
An: 3 N: 4 Am: [ 6.941 (2)]
Group No: 1  Group Name: Alkali metal
Block: s-block  Period: 2
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white/grey Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 1615K (1342'C)
Melting Point: 453.69K (180.54'C)
Density: 0.534g/cm3
Shell Structure diagram | Atomic Radius diagram
Isotopes | More Info
Discovery Information
Who: Johann Arfvedson
When: 1817
Where: Sweden
Name Origin
Greek: lithos (stone).
Sources
Lithium is widely distributed but does not occur in nature in its free form. Because of its reactivity, it is always found bound with one or more other elements or compounds. Found in trace amounts in the minerals; spodumene, ambylgonite, lepidolite. Most commercial lithium is recovered from brines sources in Chile. Also obtained by passing electric charge through melted lithium chloride.
Uses
Used in batteries, ceramics, glass, lubricants, alloy hardeners, pharmaceuticals, hydrogenating agents, heat transfer liquids, rocket propellants, vitamin A synthesis, nuclear reactor coolant, underwater buoyancy devices and the production of tritium. Deoxidizer in copper and copper alloys.
Alloys of the metal with aluminium, cadmium, copper, and manganese are used to make high performance aircraft parts.
Lithium salts such as lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), lithium citrate, and lithium orotate are mood stabilizers (the effect is due to the lithium ion, so the type of salt is unimportant). They are used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since unlike most other mood altering drugs, they counteract both mania and depression. Lithium can also be used to augment other antidepressant drugs. Useful amounts of lithium for this use are only slightly lower than toxic amounts, so the blood levels of lithium must be carefully monitored during such treatment.
Lithium metal is used as a catalyst in some types of methamphetamine production, particularly in illegal amateur "meth labs."
Notes
Lithium is a soft, silvery metal, so soft that it can be cut with a sharp knife. It is the lightest of all metals and has a density only half that of water.
Lithium is one of only three elements - and the only metal - created in the first moments of the Big Bang. (The other two elements are hydrogen and helium, which according to cosmologists, were created in much greater abundance than lithium.)
It is the only metal that reacts with nitrogen at room temperature. Near its melting point, lithium ignites in air. Lithium posses a dangerous fire and explosion risk when exposed to water, acids or oxidizing agents. Lithium fires are difficult to extinguish, requiring special chemicals designed to smother them. It reacts exothermally with nitrogen in moist air at high temperatures. In solution lithium is toxic and targets the central nervous system.
Images