Symbol	Yb
Atomic number	70
Group	-
Period	6
Block	f
Classification	Lanthanide

Appearance	-
Color	Silver

Number of protons	70 p+
Number of neutrons	103 n0
Number of electrons	70 e-

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaYtterbium is a chemical element with symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state. However, like the other lanthanides, its most common oxidation state is +3, seen in its oxide, halides and other compounds.

Phase at STP	Solid
Density	6.9 g/cm3
Atomic weight	173.045 u

Melting point	1097 K 823.85 °C 1514.93 °F
Boiling point	1469 K 1195.85 °C 2184.53 °F
Heat of vaporization	128 kJ/mol

Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)	1.1
Electron affinity	-1.93 kJ/mol
Oxidation states	0, +1, +2, +3 (a basic oxide)
Ionization energies	603.4 kJ/mol 1174.8 kJ/mol 2417 kJ/mol 4203 kJ/mol

Electron configuration Shorthand configuration	[Xe] 4f14 6s2
Electron configuration Full configuration	1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 6s2
Electron configuration chart	1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 6s2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2
Valence electrons	2
Valency electrons	3
Bohr model	Figure: Shell diagram of Ytterbium (Yb) atom.
Orbital Diagram 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 3d 4s 4p 4d 4f 5s 5p 6s

Discovery	Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac (1878)
First isolation	Carl Auer von Welsbach (1906)
Discovery of ytterbium In 1878, the Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac separated from the rare earth "erbia" another independent component, which he called "ytterbia", for Ytterby, the village in Sweden near where he found the new component of erbium. He suspected that ytterbia was a compound of a new element that he called "ytterbium" (in total, four elements were named after the village, the others being yttrium, terbium, and erbium). In 1907, the new earth "lutecia" was separated from ytterbia, from which the element "lutecium" (now lutetium) was extracted by Georges Urbain, Carl Auer von Welsbach, and Charles James. After some discussion, Marignac's name "ytterbium" was retained. A relatively pure sample of the metal was not obtained until 1953. At present, ytterbium is mainly used as a dopant of stainless steel or active laser media, and less often as a gamma ray source.

CAS Number	7440-64-4
ChemSpider ID	22428
EC number	231-173-2
PubChem CID Number	23992