Holmium (Ho)

Holmium is a relatively soft and malleable silvery-white rare-earth element.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Holmium was found spectroscopically in 1878 by Soret and Delafontaine and independently by Per Teodor Cleve, who named it for Stockholm.
• It possesses the highest magnetic moment of any naturally occurring element.
• Holmium-YAG lasers are standard surgical tools for fragmenting kidney stones, and the metal concentrates flux in the strongest magnet pole pieces.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 67
• SYMBOL: Ho
• CATEGORY: Lanthanide
• ATOMIC MASS: 164.93033 u
• ELECTRONEGATIVITY: 1.23 Pauling
• ATOMIC RADIUS: 216 pm
• IONIZATION ENERGY: 6.022 eV
• MELTING POINT: 1747 K
• BOILING POINT: 2973 K
• DENSITY: 8.8 g/cm³
• ELECTRON CONFIGURATION: [Xe]6s2 4f11
• OXIDATION STATES: +3
• STANDARD STATE: Solid
• GROUP BLOCK: Lanthanide
• YEAR DISCOVERED: 1878