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lithium

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Also known as element 3

Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil. It exhibits a metallic luster when pure, but quickly corrodes in air to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It does not occur freely in nature, but occurs mainly as pegmatitic minerals, which were once the

OverviewAI-generated

Lithium is an alkali metal in group 1 and period 2 of the s-block. It has the atomic number 3 and the element symbol Li. Johan August Arfwedson discovered the element in Sweden in 1817. Its standard atomic mass is 6.94, though some sources list the weight as 7.0. The electron configuration is 1s² 2s¹, or [He] 2s¹.

The element has a density of 0.534, a melting point of 453.7, and a boiling point of 2426. Its electronegativity is 1, and its standard molar entropy is 29.1. Lithium commonly exhibits an oxidation state of 1. It is part of the lithiophilite mineral group. The Unicode character for lithium is 鋰.

Lithium is used to treat schizoaffective disorder. It is described in the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. The element is referenced by 2,190 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubChem, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Chemical data

Formula: Li
Molecular weight: 7 g/mol
IUPAC name: lithium
SMILES: [Li]
InChIKey: WHXSMMKQMYFTQS-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Polar surface area: 0 Å²
H-bond donors: 0
H-bond acceptors: 0
Formal charge: 0

via PubChem

Research

89,339 papers

Beyond its Psychiatric Use: The Benefits of Low-dose Lithium Supplementation.ReviewCurrent neuropharmacology · 2023Hamstra SI, Roy BD, Tiidus P et al.DOI: 10.2174/1570159X20666220302151224
Lithium Poisoning.ReviewJournal of intensive care medicine · 2017Baird-Gunning J, Lea-Henry T, Hoegberg LCG et al.DOI: 10.1177/0885066616651582
Lithium: Fifteen Years Later.ReviewNeuropsychobiology · 2024Rybakowski JKDOI: 10.1159/000542490
Lithium and disease modification: A systematic review and meta-analysis in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.Ageing research reviews · 2024Singulani MP, Ferreira AFF, Figueroa PS et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102231
Lithium-associated hyperparathyroidism.ReviewBritish journal of hospital medicine (London, England : 2005) · 2020Mifsud S, Cilia K, Mifsud EL et al.DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2020.0457
Lithium, Inflammation and Neuroinflammation with Emphasis on Bipolar Disorder-A Narrative Review.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Damri O, Agam GDOI: 10.3390/ijms252413277
Lithium Use for Suicide Prevention, Revisited.ReviewJournal of psychiatric practice · 2023Wortzel HS, Simonetti JA, Oslin DW et al.DOI: 10.1097/PRA.0000000000000680
An Oldie but Goodie: Lithium in the Treatment of Bipolar Disorder through Neuroprotective and Neurotrophic Mechanisms.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2017Won E, Kim YKDOI: 10.3390/ijms18122679

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Encyclopedic overview

39 sections

Contents

{{Redirect|3Li|the isotope of lithium with three nucleons|Lithium-3{{chem2|^{3}Li}}}}

Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil. It exhibits a metallic luster when pure, but quickly corrodes in air to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It does not occur freely in nature, but occurs mainly as pegmatitic minerals, which were once the main source of lithium. Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines. Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “lithium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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