Lead
post-transition metal · period 6 · group 14 · p-block
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin plumbum) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials.
What the numbers say
At standard temperature and pressure Lead is a solid, sitting in period 6, group 14 of the p-block.
Its melting point of 601 K (327 °C) is the 77th highest of the 110 elements with a measured value — mid-range among the elements.
At 11.34 g/cm³ it is the 24th densest of 96 elements with a quoted density.
Pauling electronegativity is 1.87. Paired with oxygen (3.44) that is a difference of 1.57, which puts the bond polar covalent — oxides here tend to be semiconducting or refractory rather than salt-like.
In the solid state it takes a face-centered cubic structure — FCC packing gives 12 independent slip systems, which is why FCC metals are the ductile, formable ones.
It is reported in 3 oxidation states (-4, 2, 4), which sets how many distinct compounds and phases it can form.
First identified in c. 4000 BCE.
Crystal structure
Solid Lead adopts a Face-centered Cubic arrangement, in the Cubic (isometric) system — axes a = b = c, angles α = β = γ = 90°. Symmetry controls the anisotropy of stiffness and thermal expansion, and the available slip systems set how far the metal deforms before it fractures.
Where lead shows up in engineering materials
2 entries in the materials library name it directly:
- Bearing bronze C93200 (SAE 660) — Bronze
- PZT (lead zirconate titanate) — Piezoelectric ceramic
Check it against computed structures
The structure search queries the Materials Project, OQMD and the Open Materials Database for computed crystal structures containing Pb — with DFT formation energy, hull stability and band gap where the provider publishes them.
K 2 · L 8 · M 18 · N 32 · O 18 · P 4
Properties
| Atomic number | 82 |
|---|---|
| Atomic mass | 207.21 u |
| Series | post-transition metal |
| Group | 14 |
| Period | 6 |
| Block | p-block |
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 11.34 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 600.61 K (327 °C) |
| Boiling point | 2022 K (1749 °C) |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.87 |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s² 6p² |
| Crystal structure | Face-centered Cubic |
| Oxidation states | -4,2,4 |
| Discovered | c. 4000 BCE |
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See Pb in context with all 118 elements.
Working with lead in a real design?
Ask the materials chat how Pb behaves in your alloy system, what it does to weldability, and which grades to look at — with the source of every number named.