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Cerium

Element 58 · Lanthanide

Specimen

Atomic number
58
Atomic mass
140.12
State at room temperature
Solid
Melting point
797.9 °C
Boiling point
3,424 °C
Density
6.77 g/cm³
Discovered
1803

Atomic mass from IUPAC.1 Other physical data from PubChem.2

Can I eat it?

In food and water
Not needed, little harm known. Cerium has no known function in the body. Adult animals absorb little cerium from the gut, but young animals absorb more. No human studies of cerium absorption exist, says the US EPA. 34

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The atom

Ce
ShellElectrons
1 (K) 2
2 (L) 8
3 (M) 18
4 (N) 19
5 (O) 9
6 (P) outermost 2
Total58

Configuration [Xe] 4f¹ 5d¹ 6s²

4f ↑
5d ↑
6s ↑ ↓
A shell diagram: each ring is an electron shell and each dot is one electron. The nucleus holds 58 protons. The outermost shell is shown in red. Electrons do not travel on rings: they fill orbitals, regions where an electron is likely to be found. The boxes are those orbitals for the electrons outside the Xe core, with one arrow per electron.

Related elements

Lanthanides
La Lanthanum Pr Praseodymium Nd Neodymium Pm Promethium Sm Samarium Eu Europium Gd Gadolinium Tb Terbium Dy Dysprosium Ho Holmium Er Erbium Tm Thulium Yb Ytterbium Lu Lutetium

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Sources

  1. 1

    IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW), 2024. Abridged Standard Atomic Weights 2024 .

    The atomic mass shown for the 84 elements that have a standard atomic weight.

  2. 2

    National Center for Biotechnology Information (PubChem), 2026. Periodic Table of Elements .

    Electron configuration, melting and boiling points, density and discovery year for all 118 elements.

  3. 3

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (IRIS), 2009. Toxicological Review of Cerium Oxide and Cerium Compounds , Section 3.1.1 and 5.1.1.

    • Studies evaluating the absorption of cerium compounds following oral exposure in humans are not available. In adult animals, cerium compounds are poorly absorbed following oral exposure, while suckling animals exhibit higher absorption
  4. 4

    Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026. Cerium - Element information, properties and uses .

    • Cerium has no known biological role.
  5. 5

    National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 2026. Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions for All Elements .

    Isotopic composition of each element; the most abundant isotope sets the neutron count in the nucleus view.