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Lithium is a solid but with a low melting point (180 degrees Celcius).

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It is somewhat strange that lithium is not a gas at standard temperature and pressure. The lithium atom is similar to a hydrogen atom, the only difference being two more protons and three neutrons in the nucleus and two more (very securely tied down) electrons. In effect (as I see it), it is just one electron orbiting a light nucleus - just like hydrogen - and it is a lot lighter than things like oxygen and nitrogen, which are very very gaseous.

Sorry to say this, but I suspect we need to know a bit about quantum mechanics to understand why lithium behaves in this very solid way.

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11y ago

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