ElementsWhat is gadolinium?
Gadolinium is a silvery metal of the lanthanide row. It is strongly attracted by magnets.
What is gadolinium used for?
Contrast agents that make MRI scans clearer, control rods in nuclear reactors, and some alloys.
Where the name comes from
From the chemist Johan Gadolin, who studied the first rare earth mineral.
Key facts
- Symbol
- Gd
- Atomic number
- 64
- Atomic mass
- 157.25 u
- Family
- Lanthanide
- Period
- 6
- Group
- none (f-block)
- Block
- f
- State at room temperature
- Solid
- Melting point
- 1,313 °C (1,586 K, 2,395 °F)
- Boiling point
- 3,273 °C (3,546 K, 5,923 °F)
- Density
- 7.9 g/cm³
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 8, 18, 25, 9, 2
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f7 5d1
- Common oxidation states
- +3
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- 1.2
- First ionisation energy
- 6.15 eV
- Electron affinity
- no value
- Atomic radius (van der Waals)
- 237 pm
- Discovered
- 1880
Place in the periodic table
Gadolinium is element number 64. It sits in period 6 (row 6) of the periodic table, in the separate row of lanthanides drawn below the main table, and belongs to the f-block. Just before it comes europium (63), and just after it comes terbium (65).
Family: Lanthanides.
Physical properties
At room temperature gadolinium is a solid. It melts at 1,313 °C and boils at 3,273 °C, so it stays liquid over a range of 1,960 degrees. Its density is 7.9 grams per cubic centimetre, so a one-litre block would weigh about 7.9 kilograms. By density it ranks 40th among the 96 elements with a measured value.
Inside the atom
An atom of gadolinium has 64 protons in its nucleus and, when neutral, 64 electrons around it. The electrons are arranged in 6 shells: 2, 8, 18, 25, 9, 2. The outermost shell holds 2 electrons. Written in full, the electron configuration is [Xe]6s2 4f7 5d1.
Its electronegativity on the Pauling scale is 1.2. This number shows how strongly an atom pulls shared electrons towards itself: fluorine, the strongest, is 3.98. Removing one electron from an atom takes 6.15 electronvolts (about 593 kilojoules per mole). One mole of gadolinium weighs 157.25 grams, so a single gram contains about 3.83 × 1021 atoms.
The ring picture is a simple model that only counts the electrons in each shell. Real atoms do not look like this.
Next steps
- Work out the weight of a compound that contains gadolinium with the molar mass calculator.
- Compare it with every other element in the sortable list.
- Test yourself with the symbol quiz.
Figures on this page are from PubChem (U.S. National Library of Medicine), as downloaded on 11 November 2026. See About and data sources.