Nickel
transition metal · period 4 · group 10 · d-block
Nickel is a chemical element with the symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge.
What the numbers say
At standard temperature and pressure Nickel is a solid, sitting in period 4, group 10 of the d-block.
Its melting point of 1728 K (1455 °C) is the 33rd highest of the 110 elements with a measured value — mid-range among the elements.
At 8.908 g/cm³ it is the 34th densest of 96 elements with a quoted density.
Pauling electronegativity is 1.91. Paired with oxygen (3.44) that is a difference of 1.53, 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 5 oxidation states (-1, 1, 2, 3, 4), which sets how many distinct compounds and phases it can form.
First identified in 1751.
Crystal structure
Solid Nickel 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.
Check it against computed structures
The structure search queries the Materials Project, OQMD and the Open Materials Database for computed crystal structures containing Ni — with DFT formation energy, hull stability and band gap where the provider publishes them.
K 2 · L 8 · M 16 · N 2
Properties
| Atomic number | 28 |
|---|---|
| Atomic mass | 58.69344 u |
| Series | transition metal |
| Group | 10 |
| Period | 4 |
| Block | d-block |
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 8.908 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 1728 K (1455 °C) |
| Boiling point | 3003 K (2730 °C) |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.91 |
| Electron configuration | [Ar] 3d⁸ 4s² |
| Crystal structure | Face-centered Cubic |
| Oxidation states | -1,1,2,3,4 |
| Discovered | 1751 |
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See Ni in context with all 118 elements.
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