ElementsWhat is ytterbium?
Ytterbium is a soft, silvery metal of the lanthanide row.
What is ytterbium used for?
Very accurate atomic clocks, fibre lasers for cutting and marking, and small additions to stainless steel.
Where the name comes from
From Ytterby, the village in Sweden.
Key facts
- Symbol
- Yb
- Atomic number
- 70
- Atomic mass
- 173.05 u
- Family
- Lanthanide
- Period
- 6
- Group
- none (f-block)
- Block
- f
- State at room temperature
- Solid
- Melting point
- 818.9 °C (1,092 K, 1,506 °F)
- Boiling point
- 1,196 °C (1,469 K, 2,185 °F)
- Density
- 6.9 g/cm³
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f14
- Common oxidation states
- +3, +2
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- no value
- First ionisation energy
- 6.254 eV
- Electron affinity
- no value
- Atomic radius (van der Waals)
- 242 pm
- Discovered
- 1878
Place in the periodic table
Ytterbium is element number 70. 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 thulium (69), and just after it comes lutetium (71).
Family: Lanthanides.
Physical properties
At room temperature ytterbium is a solid. It melts at 818.9 °C and boils at 1,196 °C, so it stays liquid over a range of 377 degrees. Its density is 6.9 grams per cubic centimetre, so a one-litre block would weigh about 6.9 kilograms. By density it ranks 51st among the 96 elements with a measured value.
Inside the atom
An atom of ytterbium has 70 protons in its nucleus and, when neutral, 70 electrons around it. The electrons are arranged in 6 shells: 2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2. The outermost shell holds 2 electrons. Written in full, the electron configuration is [Xe]6s2 4f14.
Removing one electron from an atom takes 6.254 electronvolts (about 603 kilojoules per mole). One mole of ytterbium weighs 173.05 grams, so a single gram contains about 3.48 × 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 ytterbium 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.