Atomic number 84
Polonium
Metalloid
Quick facts
- Atomic mass
- 209.00
- Group
- 16
- Period
- 6
- State (STP)
- solid
- Electronegativity
- 2.00
- Common ox. states
- -2, +2, +4
Properties
Electron configuration
[Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s² 6p⁴
- Ionization energy
- 812.1 kJ/mol
- Electron affinity
- 183.3 kJ/mol
- Melting point
- 527.00 K (253.9 °C)
- Boiling point
- 1235.00 K (961.9 °C)
How it bonds
Polonium is intensely radioactive (one of Marie Curie's discoveries, named for her native Poland). Group-16 chemistry on paper, but Po-210 emits alpha particles so energetically that the metal glows blue from radioluminescence. Famous for the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko (2006).