Lead
Lead is a dense, soft metal; exposure to lead and its compounds can damage health.
Lead has long been useful because it is dense and easy to shape.
Explore Lead's atom- Atomic number
- 82
- Standard atomic weight
- [206.14, 207.94]
- Family
- Post-transition
- Period
- 6
- Group
- 14
- Standard state
- Solid
In everyday life
Lead-acid batteries and radiation shielding use lead.
Something to remember
Many historic uses in paints and fuels were curtailed because lead is toxic.
Meet its electrons
[Xe] 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p2
Published neutral-atom ground-state configuration; excited atoms and ions can differ.
Electrons per shell: 2 · 8 · 18 · 32 · 18 · 4.
The playground shows an illustrative shell model. Real electrons are described by quantum orbitals, rather than tiny planets traveling along fixed paths.
A connection to explore
Antimony can increase the hardness of lead alloys used in batteries.
Meet Antimony (Sb)Properties and conditions
- Standard atomic weight
- [206.14, 207.94]CIAAW 2024 standard atomic weight (dimensionless). The interval reflects variation in normal terrestrial isotope compositions, not measurement uncertainty. Source flags: none.CIAAW standard atomic weights ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Standard state
- SolidPubChem classification, including explicit predictions where stated. Reference temperature and pressure are not supplied in the table.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- First ionisation energy
- 7.417 eVEnergy to remove the first electron from an isolated neutral gas-phase atom. Uncertainty is not supplied.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Electronegativity
- 2.33 Pauling scaleA dimensionless relative measure; values depend on the chosen scale. Uncertainty is not supplied.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Melting point
- 600.61 KPubChem reported value. Pressure, allotrope and measurement uncertainty are not specified in the table; consult the cited source.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Boiling point
- 2022 KPubChem reported value. Pressure and measurement uncertainty are not specified in the table; consult the cited source.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Density
- 11.342 g/cm³PubChem reported value. Temperature, pressure, allotrope and measurement uncertainty are not specified in the table; gas densities are especially condition-dependent.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Oxidation states
- +4, +2Selected PubChem oxidation states; formal electron bookkeeping, not a list of stable free-ion charges or every possible compound.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Discovery
- AncientPubChem discovery attribution. Ancient knowledge and competing priority claims cannot always be represented by a single year.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Atomic radius
- 202 pmPubChem tabulated radius. Radius definitions depend on bonding and convention; measurement definition and uncertainty are not supplied in this table.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
- Electron affinity
- 0.36 eVPubChem reported gas-phase electron affinity. Sign conventions and electronic states matter; uncertainty is not supplied in this table.PubChem periodic table ↗ · Retrieved 2026-10-15
Isotopes, abundance and decay
Isotopes share a proton count but have different neutron counts. This selection includes naturally tabulated compositions and a reference isotope for other elements. It is not a list of every known isotope.
Explore 4 isotopes of Pb
| Isotope | Relative atomic mass | Natural fraction | Half-life | Decay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb-204 | 203.9730440(13) | 0.014(1) | No decay observed | ;A ? |
| Pb-206 | 205.9744657(13) | 0.241(1) | No decay observed | ;A ? |
| Pb-207 | 206.9758973(13) | 0.221(1) | No decay observed | ;A ? |
| Pb-208 | 207.9766525(13) | 0.524(1) | No decay observed | ;A ? |
Fractions use NIST’s terrestrial isotopic compositions, which can vary by sample. Parentheses denote uncertainty in the last digits. Half-lives and decay branches use NUBASE2020; # marks estimates, >/< mark limits. “No decay observed” follows that evaluation and does not prove permanent stability. Decay branch intensities are percentages; SF means spontaneous fission, EC electron capture, IT an isomeric transition.
Follow the science
Use these original references to explore the data and context. Atomic weights can vary with isotope composition; values for elements without stable isotopes may describe a representative isotope rather than a standard atomic weight.