Hafnium (Hf)
"The Zirconium Twin, a hero almost identical to its twin, tasked with controlling nuclear reactions in submarines."
A memorable persona to anchor Hf in your mind.
13.31
Grams per cm³
2233
Celsius (°C)
212
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Hafnium is found in the control rods in a nuclear submarine�s reactor.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1923
Discovered By
Dirk Coster & George de Hevesy
Origin of Name
"The name is derived from the Latin name for Copenhagen, ''Hafnia''"
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
178.486 u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
4600°C
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f145d26s2
1st Ionization Energy
6.825 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Hafnium is a lustrous, silvery, ductile metal."
Did You Know?
It was one of the last stable (non-radioactive) elements to be discovered, in 1923.
Its chemical properties are so similar to zirconium that it is extremely difficult to separate the two. For this reason, zirconium metal always contains a small amount of hafnium unless it has been highly purified.
Hafnium is excellent at absorbing neutrons, so it is used to make control rods for nuclear submarines.
It is named after Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen, the city where it was discovered.