2) Element symbol: Li
 

3) Number of electrons, protons, and neutrons: 3 electron, 3 proton, 4 neutrons
 

4) Atomic number: 3
 

5) Atomic mass: 6.941
 

6) Characteristics:

Lithium is silver-white, the lightest of all the metals. It tarnishes instantaneously and corrodes rapidly upon exposure to air.
 

7)

History:

Discovery of Lithium is generally credited to Johann A. Affvedson.

Three things made from the element:

- used as a deoxidizer and to remove unwanted gases during the manufacture of nonferrous castings.

- lithium vapor used to prevent carbon dioxide and oxygen from forming scale in furnaces in heating - treating steel

- lithium carbonate, a common mineral, is used in the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis.
 

8) Isotopes:

Natural lithium exists as two isotopes: lithium-7 (92.5 percent) and lithium-6 (7.5 percent); five radioactive isotopes have been prepared--lithium-5, lithium-8, lithium-9, lithium-10, and lithium-11--all having half-lives of less than one second.
 

9) Lithium does not occur in nature in the free state, but only in compounds, which are wildly distributed. Some are: hydroxide, hydride, and lathium carbonate.
 
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