Hafnium

Atomic Number: 72
Symbol: Hf
Atomic Mass: 178.49 u
Number of Neutrons: 106
Melting Point: 2,233°C
Boiling Point: 4602°C
Electrons per shell: 2.8.18.32.10.2
Electron configuration: [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d² 6s²

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Hafnium is the 72nd element in the periodic table and it is the first transition metal in row 6. It is a shiny silvery gray metal. Hafnium is quite similar to zirconium and is even found in many of the same ores. Hafnium has an extremely high melting and boiling point so it can be used in many alloys and other things that need a high melting point. It can be alloyed with iron, titanium and niobium. Hafnium metal has no known toxicity. This element is the 45th most abundant element on Earth, and can be found in ores and minerals. The Dutch physicist, Dirk Coster, and the Hungarian Swedish chemist, George Charles von Hevesy, discovered hafnium in 1923. They named the element after Copenhagen (in Latin, Hafnia), the city in which hafnium was discovered.

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