ElementsWhat is lead?
Lead is a soft, heavy, grey metal used since ancient times. It is poisonous and builds up in the body, so it has been removed from petrol, paint and water pipes in most countries.
What is lead used for?
Car batteries take most of it. Also shielding against X-rays and radiation, and weights.
Where the name comes from
From an Old English word. The symbol Pb comes from plumbum, its Latin name.
Key facts
- Symbol
- Pb
- Atomic number
- 82
- Atomic mass
- 207 u
- Family
- Post-transition metal
- Period
- 6
- Group
- 14
- Block
- p
- State at room temperature
- Solid
- Melting point
- 327.5 °C (600.61 K, 621 °F)
- Boiling point
- 1,749 °C (2,022 K, 3,180 °F)
- Density
- 11.34 g/cm³
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 4
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f14 5d10 6p2
- Common oxidation states
- +4, +2
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- 2.33
- First ionisation energy
- 7.417 eV
- Electron affinity
- 0.36 eV
- Atomic radius (van der Waals)
- 202 pm
- Discovered
- Known since ancient times
Place in the periodic table
Lead is element number 82. It sits in period 6 (row 6) of the periodic table, in group 14 (column 14), and belongs to the p-block. Just before it comes thallium (81), and just after it comes bismuth (83). In the same column, tin is above it and flerovium is below it. Elements in one column tend to behave alike.
Family: Post-transition metals.
Physical properties
At room temperature lead is a solid. It melts at 327.5 °C and boils at 1,749 °C, so it stays liquid over a range of 1,421 degrees. Its density is 11.34 grams per cubic centimetre, so a one-litre block would weigh about 11.34 kilograms. By density it ranks 22nd among the 96 elements with a measured value.
Inside the atom
An atom of lead has 82 protons in its nucleus and, when neutral, 82 electrons around it. The electrons are arranged in 6 shells: 2, 8, 18, 32, 18, 4. The outermost shell holds 4 electrons. Written in full, the electron configuration is [Xe]6s2 4f14 5d10 6p2.
Its electronegativity on the Pauling scale is 2.33. 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 7.417 electronvolts (about 716 kilojoules per mole). One mole of lead weighs 207 grams, so a single gram contains about 2.91 × 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 lead 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.