Calcium (Ca) – Periodic Table [Element Information & More]

Calcium element (Ca) is in group 2 and period 4 of a periodic table. Calcium is in the s-block and it is classified as an alkaline earth metal on the periodic table.

There is a lot more information related to calcium which is mentioned in the Information Table given below.

So let’s dive right into it!

Table of contents

• Calcium element (Information Table)
• Calcium element in Periodic table
• Facts about Calcium
• Properties of Calcium
• Uses of Calcium

Calcium Element (Information Table)

The important data related to calcium element is given in the table below.

Appearance of calcium	Silvery gray color
Atomic number of calcium	20
Symbol of calcium	Ca
Atomic mass of calcium	40.078 u
Protons, Neutrons & Electrons in calcium	Protons: 20, Neutrons: 20, Electrons: 20
State of calcium (at STP)	Solid
Group number of calcium in periodic table	2
Period number of calcium in periodic table	4
Block of calcium in periodic table	s-block
Category of calcium	Alkaline earth metals
Bohr model or Electrons per shell or Electrons arrangement in calcium	2, 8, 8, 2
Electron configuration of calcium	[Ar] 4s2
Orbital diagram of calcium
Valence electrons in calcium	2
Electronegativity of calcium (on pauling scale)	1.00
Atomic radius of calcium (van der Waals radius)	231 picometers
Density of calcium	1.55 g/cm3
1st ionization energy of calcium	6.113 eV
Main isotope of calcium	40Ca
Melting point of calcium	1115 K or 842 °C or 1548 °F
Boiling point of calcium	1757 K or 1484 °C or 2703 °F
Crystal structure of calcium	Face Centered Cubic (FCC)
Discovery of calcium	By Humphry Davy in 1808

Also see: Interactive Periodic Table (It has rotating bohr models as well as many other details of all the 118 elements in a single periodic table).

Calcium element in Periodic table

The Calcium element (Ca) has the atomic number 20 and is located in group 2 and period 4. Calcium is in solid state at STP and it is classified as an alkaline earth metal on the periodic table.

Click on above elements in the periodic table to see their information.

Facts about calcium

Here are a few interesting facts about calcium element.

1. Calcium is the 5^th most abundant element (by mass) found from the earth’s crust.
2. Calcium is also the 5^th most abundant element present in the human body.
3. Calcium is essential for all living beings.
4. The calcium ions are also present in the sea water.
5. Calcium is alkaline earth metal and so the calcium present in the soil controls the pH of the soil. Calcium makes the soil alkaline in nature.
6. The teeth and bones of animals have calcium in it.
7. If we consider the only metals present in the human body, then calcium is the most abundant metallic element found from the human body.

Properties of calcium

Here is a list of some physical properties and chemical properties of calcium.

Physical properties of calcium

• Calcium is a soft metal having a silvery gray appearance.
• You can cut the calcium metal even with a kitchen knife (because it is a soft metal).
• The calcium salts can form orange color. Because of this reason, calcium is used in fireworks.
• The melting point and boiling point of calcium is 1115 K and 1757 K respectively.

Chemical properties of calcium

• Calcium is a reactive metal and hence it is not found in its free state in nature. But it is always found as a compound with other elements in the earth’s crust.
• When calcium reacts with water, it forms the alkaline solution and liberates the heat during the reaction.
• There are many isotopes of calcium, out of which ⁴⁰Ca is the most abundant isotope (almost 97%).
• The powdered calcium reacts very fast with water as more surface of calcium comes in contact with water.

Uses of calcium

Here are some uses of the calcium element.

• Gypsum is a chemical compound of calcium which is used in the manufacturing of Plaster Of Paris.
• Limestone also contains calcium, and this limestone is used in construction work.
• Limestone is also used for painting the walls.
• Calcium is used as a reducing agent in preparing other metals.
• Calcium metal is alloyed with other metals to get the alloy with improved properties.

External resources:

1. Calcium – Wikipedia. (2019, August 31). Calcium – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium
2. It’s Elemental – The Element Calcium. (n.d.). It’s Elemental – the Element Calcium. https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele020.html
3. Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. (n.d.). Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. https://periodic.lanl.gov/20.shtml
4. Haynes, W. M. (Ed.). (2014, June 4). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17118
5. Sansonetti, J. E., & Martin, W. C. (2005, December). Handbook of Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 34(4), 1559–2259. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1800011
6. Bondi, A. (1964, March). van der Waals Volumes and Radii. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 68(3), 441–451. https://doi.org/10.1021/j100785a001
7. Holden, et al. (2018, December 1). IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements and Isotopes (IPTEI) for the Education Community (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 90(12), 1833–2092. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0703
8. Allred, A. (1961, June). Electronegativity values from thermochemical data. Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, 17(3–4), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1902(61)80142-5
9. Zhang, Y., Evans, J. R. G., & Yang, S. (2011, January 11). Corrected Values for Boiling Points and Enthalpies of Vaporization of Elements in Handbooks. Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, 56(2), 328–337. https://doi.org/10.1021/je1011086
10. Possolo, A., van der Veen, A. M. H., Meija, J., & Hibbert, D. B. (2018, January 4). Interpreting and propagating the uncertainty of the standard atomic weights (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 90(2), 395–424. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-0402