Selenium

Selenium, ₃₄Se

Selenium
Pronunciation	/sɪˈliːniəm/ ​(sə-LEE-nee-əm)
Appearance	grey metallic-looking, red, and vitreous black (not pictured) allotropes
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Se)
	78.971±0.008[1] 78.971±0.008 (abridged)[2]
Selenium 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 S ↑ Se ↓ Te arsenic ← selenium → bromine
Atomic number (Z)	34
Group	group 16 (chalcogens)
Period	period 4
Block	p-block
Electron configuration	[Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p4
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 6
Physical properties
Phase at STP	solid
Melting point	494 K ​(221 °C, ​430 °F)
Boiling point	958 K ​(685 °C, ​1265 °F)
Density (near r.t.)	gray: 4.81 g/cm3 alpha: 4.39 g/cm3 vitreous: 4.28 g/cm3
when liquid (at m.p.)	3.99 g/cm3
Critical point	1766 K, 27.2 MPa
Heat of fusion	gray: 6.69 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization	95.48 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity	25.363 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T (K) 500 552 617 704 813 958
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	common: −2, +2, +4, +6 −1,? 0,[3] +1,[4] +3,[5] +5?
Electronegativity	Pauling scale: 2.55
Ionization energies	1st: 941.0 kJ/mol 2nd: 2045 kJ/mol 3rd: 2973.7 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	empirical: 120 pm
Covalent radius	120±4 pm
Van der Waals radius	190 pm
Spectral lines of selenium
Other properties
Natural occurrence	primordial
Crystal structure	grey: ​hexagonal (hP3)
Lattice constants	a = 436.46 pm c = 495.77 pm (at 20 °C)[6]
Thermal expansion	amorphous: 37 µm/(m⋅K) (at 25 °C)
Thermal conductivity	amorphous: 0.519 W/(m⋅K)
Magnetic ordering	diamagnetic[7]
Molar magnetic susceptibility	−25.0×10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)[8]
Young's modulus	10 GPa
Shear modulus	3.7 GPa
Bulk modulus	8.3 GPa
Speed of sound thin rod	3350 m/s (at 20 °C)
Poisson ratio	0.33
Mohs hardness	2.0
Brinell hardness	736 MPa
CAS Number	7782-49-2
History
Naming	after Selene, Greek goddess of the moon
Discovery and first isolation	Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Johann Gottlieb Gahn (1817)
Isotopes of selenium v e
Main isotopes[9] Decay abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct 72Se synth 8.4 d ε 72As γ – 74Se 0.860% stable 75Se synth 119.8 d ε 75As γ – 76Se 9.23% stable 77Se 7.60% stable 78Se 23.7% stable 79Se trace 3.27×105 y β− 79Br 80Se 49.8% stable 82Se 8.82% 8.76×1019 y β−β− 82Kr
Category: Selenium view talk edit | references

Selenium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elemental state or as pure ore compounds in Earth's crust. Selenium (from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē) 'moon') was discovered in 1817 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who noted the similarity of the new element to the previously discovered tellurium (named for the Earth).

Selenium is found in metal sulfide ores, where it substitutes for sulfur. Commercially, selenium is produced as a byproduct in the refining of these ores. Minerals that are pure selenide or selenate compounds are rare. The chief commercial uses for selenium today are glassmaking and pigments. Selenium is a semiconductor and is used in photocells. Applications in electronics, once important, have been mostly replaced with silicon semiconductor devices. Selenium is still used in a few types of DC power surge protectors and one type of fluorescent quantum dot.

Although trace amounts of selenium are necessary for cellular function in many animals, including humans, both elemental selenium and (especially) selenium salts are toxic in even small doses, causing selenosis.^[10] Symptoms include (in decreasing order of frequency): diarrhea, fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, nail brittleness or discoloration, nausea, headache, tingling, vomiting, and fever.^[11]

Selenium is listed as an ingredient in many multivitamins and other dietary supplements, as well as in infant formula, and is a component of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin reductase (which indirectly reduce certain oxidized molecules in animals and some plants) as well as in three deiodinase enzymes. Selenium requirements in plants differ by species, with some plants requiring relatively large amounts and others apparently not requiring any.^[12]