Periodic Table of Elements

34

Selenium

78.96

Selenium was discovered by Swedish chemists Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Johan Gottlieb Gahn in 1817 after analyzing an red precipitate that was contaminating the sulfuric acid (H2SO4) being produced at a chemistry plant in Sweden. Berzelius named the new element after the Moon.

Name: Selenium
Symbol: Se
Atomic number: 34
Atomic weight: 78.96
State: solid
Group, period, block: 16, 4, p
Color: black and red allotropes
Classification: Non-metallic
Electron configuration: 3d10 4s2 4p4
2,8,18,6

Physical properties

Density: (gray) 4.81 g/cm-3
Melting point: 494 K,221 °C,430 °F
Boiling point: 958 K,685 °C,1265 °F

Atomic properties

Oxidation states: 6, 4, 2, 1,[1] -2
Electronegativity: 2.55 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies: 1st: 941.0 kJ·mol-1
Covalent radius: 120±4 pm
Van der Waals radius: 190 pm
  • Se
  • Electron Configuration

Isotopes

There are six naturally occurring isotopes of selenium exist, 74Se, 76Se, 77Se, 78Se, 80Se, and 82Se.