Terbium (Tb) – Periodic Table [Element Information & More]

Terbium element (Tb) is in period 6 of a periodic table. Terbium is in the f-block and it is classified as a lanthanide on the periodic table.

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

So let’s dive right into it!

Table of contents

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

Terbium Element (Information Table)

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

Appearance of terbium	Silvery white appearance
Atomic number of terbium	65
Symbol of terbium	Tb
Atomic mass of terbium	158.93 u
Protons, Neutrons & Electrons in terbium	Protons: 65, Neutrons: 94, Electrons: 65
State of terbium (at STP)	Solid
Period number of terbium in periodic table	6
Block of terbium in periodic table	f-block
Category of terbium	Inner transition metals
Bohr model or Electrons per shell or Electrons arrangement in terbium	2, 8, 18, 27, 8, 2
Electron configuration of terbium	[Xe] 4f9 6s2
Orbital diagram of terbium
Atomic radius of terbium (van der Waals radius)	221 picometers
Density of terbium	8.22 g/cm3
1st ionization energy of terbium	5.864 eV
Main isotope of terbium	159Tb
Melting point of terbium	1629 K or 1356 °C or 2473 °F
Boiling point of terbium	3396 K or 3123 °C or 5653 °F
Crystal structure of terbium	Hexagonal Close Packing (HCP)
Discovery of terbium	By Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843

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).

Terbium element in Periodic table

The Terbium element (Tb) has the atomic number 65 and is located in period 6. Terbium is a metal and it is classified as a lanthanide group element.

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

Facts about terbium

Here are a few interesting facts about the terbium element.

1. Carl Gustaf Mosander discovered terbium in 1843.
2. Terbium was given its name from the name of a small village of Sweden “Ytterby”.
3. The earth’s crust has a concentration of 0.9 ppm by weight.
4. Terbium is not available from one place on the earth. But it is evenly spread on the earth.
5. The most common mineral of terbium is “monazite”.

Properties of terbium

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

Physical properties of terbium

• Terbium is a metal that has a silvery white appearance.
• Terbium is a soft metal and it can even be cut with a knife.
• The density of terbium is 8.22 g/cm³ and its atomic mass is 158.93 amu.
• Terbium has a HCP crystal structure.
• The melting point and boiling point of terbium is 1629 K and 3396 K respectively.
• There are many isotopes of terbium, but out of those isotopes, the most abundant isotope is ¹⁵⁹Tb.

Chemical properties of terbium

• Terbium metal is reactive and it is always found as a compound with other elements in the earth’s crust.
• Terbium generally forms 3+ ions during a chemical reaction.
• When the 3+ ions are excited by the appropriate wavelength of light, they emit a green light.

Uses of terbium

Here are some uses of the terbium element.

• Terbium is used in euro notes as it glows green in color.
• Terbium chloride is used to detect microbes.
• Magnets are also prepared by alloying terbium with neodymium and dysprosium. These magnets can retain their magnetism even at higher temperatures.
• Terbium is also used as a phosphor in color TV tubes. This is because terbium ions can emit green light.

External resources:

1. Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. (n.d.). Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. https://periodic.lanl.gov/65.shtml
2. 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
3. Zhang, et al. (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
4. Atomic Weight of Terbium | Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights. (n.d.). Atomic Weight of Terbium | Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights. https://ciaaw.org/terbium.htm
5. Terbium | Tb | ChemSpider. (n.d.). Terbium | Tb | ChemSpider. http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.22397.html?rid=a1c9f168-9574-447a-a906-412514329582
6. C&EN: IT’S ELEMENTAL: THE PERIODIC TABLE – THE LANTHANIDES. (n.d.). C&EN: IT’S ELEMENTAL: THE PERIODIC TABLE – THE LANTHANIDES. https://pubsapp.acs.org/cen/80th/lanthanides.html?
7. Terbium – Wikipedia. (2022, February 1). Terbium – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terbium
8. Terbium – Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table. (n.d.). Terbium – Element Information, Properties and Uses | Periodic Table. https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/65/terbium
9. P. (n.d.). Terbium | Tb (Element) – PubChem. Terbium | Tb (Element) – PubChem. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Terbium
10. It’s Elemental – The Element Terbium. (n.d.). It’s Elemental – the Element Terbium. https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele065.html
11. Atomic Data for Terbium (Tb). (n.d.). Atomic Data for Terbium (Tb). https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Handbook/Tables/terbiumtable1.htm
12. Prohaska, T., et al. (2022, May 1). Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 94(5), 573–600. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0603
13. Haynes, W. M. (Ed.). (2014, June 4). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17118
14. Kaye, G W.C., & Laby, T H. Tables of physical and chemical constants. 15th Edition. United States.
15. 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
16. 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