Lithium

Type: Essential Mineral
Periodic Element: (Li)
RDA: 1,000 µg/day is suggested for a 70 kg adult provisionally. As evidence now appears to be sufficient to accept lithium as essential.
Importance- To Body:
The biochemical mechanisms of action of lithium appear to be multifactorial and are intercorrelated with the functions of several enzymes, hormones and vitamins, as well as with growth and transforming factors.
Distribution- In Body:
nearly all vertebrate tissue and body fluids contain lithium ranging from 21 to 763 ppb.
Excess Effects:
The metal itself is a handling hazard because contact with moisture produces the caustic lithium hydroxide. Lithium dust or compounds may irritate the nose and throat, higher exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema. May increase risk of developing Ebstein’s cardiac anomaly in infants born to women who take lithium during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Deficiency Effects:
Increased Suicides, homicides and arrest rates are now associated with low levels.
Sources Food:
Primary food sources of lithium are grains and vegetables, Seafood, and, in some areas, drinking water also contains significant amounts. Human intake varies depending on location and diet. Marine organisms tend to bioaccumulate lithium more than terrestrial organisms.
Sources Environmental/Geographic:
Lithium salts are extracted from water in mineral springs, brine pools, and brine deposits.
Lithium is present in seawater, but commercially viable methods of extraction have yet to be developed.
Supplemental information:

Lithium (Wikipedia)

This article is about the chemical element. For the use of lithium as a medication, see Lithium (medication). For other uses, see Lithium (disambiguation).

Lithium,  ₃Li

Lithium floating in oil
General properties
Pronunciation	/ˈlɪθiəm/ ​(LITH-ee-əm)
Appearance	silvery-white
Standard atomic weight (Ar, standard)	[7000693800000000000♠6.938, 7000699700000000000♠6.997] conventional: 7000694000000000000♠6.94
Lithium in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson H ↑ Li ↓ Na helium ← lithium → beryllium
Atomic number (Z)	3
Group	group 1 (alkali metals)
Period	period 2
Element category	alkali metal
Block	s-block
Electron configuration	[He] 2s1
Electrons per shell	2, 1
Physical properties
Phase at STP	solid
Melting point	453.65 K ​(180.50 °C, ​356.90 °F)
Boiling point	1603 K ​(1330 °C, ​2426 °F)
Density (near r.t.)	0.534 g/cm3
when liquid (at m.p.)	0.512 g/cm3
Critical point	3220 K, 67 MPa (extrapolated)
Heat of fusion	3.00 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization	136 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity	24.860 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T (K) 797 885 995 1144 1337 1610
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	+1 ​(a strongly basic oxide)
Electronegativity	Pauling scale: 0.98
Ionization energies	1st: 520.2 kJ/mol 2nd: 7298.1 kJ/mol 3rd: 11815.0 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	empirical: 152 pm
Covalent radius	128±7 pm
Van der Waals radius	182 pm
Spectral lines
Miscellanea
Crystal structure	​body-centered cubic (bcc)
Speed of sound thin rod	6000 m/s (at 20 °C)
Thermal expansion	46 µm/(m·K) (at 25 °C)
Thermal conductivity	84.8 W/(m·K)
Electrical resistivity	92.8 nΩ·m (at 20 °C)
Magnetic ordering	paramagnetic
Magnetic susceptibility	+14.2·10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)
Young's modulus	4.9 GPa
Shear modulus	4.2 GPa
Bulk modulus	11 GPa
Mohs hardness	0.6
Brinell hardness	5 MPa
CAS Number	7439-93-2
History
Discovery	Johan August Arfwedson (1817)
First isolation	William Thomas Brande (1821)
Main isotopes of lithium
Iso­tope Abun­dance Half-life (t1/2) Decay mode Pro­duct 6Li 5% stable 7Li 95% stable
6Li content may be as low as 3.75% in natural samples. 7Li would therefore have a content of up to 96.25%.
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Lithium (from Greek: λίθος, translit. lithos, lit. 'stone') is a chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and is stored in mineral oil. When cut open, it exhibits a metallic luster, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It never occurs freely in nature, but only in (usually ionic) compounds, such as pegmatitic minerals which were once the main source of lithium. Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines. Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.

The nucleus of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides. Because of its relative nuclear instability, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though its nuclei are very light: it is an exception to the trend that heavier nuclei are less common. For related reasons, lithium has important uses in nuclear physics. The transmutation of lithium atoms to helium in 1932 was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction, and lithium deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons.

Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production, lithium batteries, and lithium-ion batteries. These uses consume more than three quarters of lithium production.

Lithium is present in biological systems in trace amounts; its functions are uncertain. Lithium salts have proven to be useful as a mood-stabilizing drug in the treatment of bipolar disorder in humans.