Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Work function
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Work functions of elements == The work function depends on the configurations of atoms at the surface of the material. For example, on polycrystalline silver the work function is 4.26 eV, but on silver crystals it varies for different crystal faces as [[Miller index|(100) face]]: 4.64 eV, [[Miller index|(110) face]]: 4.52 eV, [[Miller index|(111) face]]: 4.74 eV.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Dweydari | first1 = A. W. | last2 = Mee | first2 = C. H. B. | doi = 10.1002/pssa.2210270126 | title = Work function measurements on (100) and (110) surfaces of silver | journal = Physica Status Solidi A | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 223 | year = 1975 |bibcode = 1975PSSAR..27..223D }}</ref> Ranges for typical surfaces are shown in the table below.<ref>CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics version 2008, p. 12β124.</ref> {| class="wikitable" reference |+ Work function of elements ([[electronvolt|eV]]) |- | align="right" |[[Silver|Ag]] | 4.26 β 4.74 | align="right" |[[Aluminium|Al]] | 4.06 β 4.26 | align="right" |[[Arsenic|As]] | 3.75 |- | align="right" |[[Gold|Au]] | 5.10 β 5.47 | align="right" |[[Boron|B]] | ~4.45 | align="right" |[[Barium|Ba]] | 2.52 β 2.70 |- | align="right" |[[Beryllium|Be]] | 4.98 | align="right" |[[Bismuth|Bi]] | 4.31 | align="right" |[[Carbon|C]] | ~5 |- | align="right" |[[Calcium|Ca]] | 2.87 | align="right" |[[Cadmium|Cd]] | 4.08 | align="right" |[[Cerium|Ce]] | 2.9 |- | align="right" |[[Cobalt|Co]] | 5 | align="right" |[[Chromium|Cr]] | 4.5 | align="right" |[[Caesium|Cs]] | 1.95 |- | align="right" |[[Copper|Cu]] | 4.53 β 5.10 | align="right" |[[Europium|Eu]] | 2.5 | align="right" |[[Iron|Fe]]: | 4.67 β 4.81 |- | align="right" |[[Gallium|Ga]] | 4.32 | align="right" |[[Gadolinium|Gd]] | 2.90 | align="right" |[[Hafnium|Hf]] | 3.90 |- | align="right" |[[Mercury (element)|Hg]] | 4.475 | align="right" |[[Indium|In]] | 4.09 | align="right" |[[Iridium|Ir]] | 5.00 β 5.67 |- | align="right" |[[Potassium|K]] | 2.29 | align="right" |[[Lanthanum|La]] | 3.5 | align="right" |[[Lithium|Li]] | 2.9 |- | align="right" |[[Lutetium|Lu]] | ~3.3 | align="right" |[[Magnesium|Mg]] | 3.66 | align="right" |[[Manganese|Mn]] | 4.1 |- | align="right" |[[Molybdenum|Mo]] | 4.36 β 4.95 | align="right" |[[Sodium|Na]] | 2.36 | align="right" |[[Niobium|Nb]] | 3.95 β 4.87 |- | align="right" |[[Neodymium|Nd]] | 3.2 | align="right" |[[Nickel|Ni]] | 5.04 β 5.35 | align="right" |[[Osmium|Os]] | 5.93 |- | align="right" |[[Lead|Pb]] | 4.25 | align="right" |[[Palladium|Pd]] | 5.22 β 5.60 | align="right" |[[Platinum|Pt]] | 5.12 β 5.93 |- | align="right" |[[Rubidium|Rb]] | 2.261 | align="right" |[[Rhenium|Re]] | 4.72 | align="right" |[[Rhodium|Rh]] | 4.98 |- | align="right" |[[Ruthenium|Ru]] | 4.71 | align="right" |[[Antimony|Sb]] | 4.55 β 4.70 | align="right" |[[Scandium|Sc]] | 3.5 |- | align="right" |[[Selenium|Se]] | 5.9 | align="right" |[[Silicon|Si]] | 4.60 β 4.85 | align="right" |[[Samarium|Sm]] | 2.7 |- | align="right" |[[Tin|Sn]] | 4.42 | align="right" |[[Strontium|Sr]] | ~2.59 | align="right" |[[Tantalum|Ta]] | 4.00 β 4.80 |- | align="right" |[[Terbium|Tb]] | 3.00 | align="right" |[[Tellurium|Te]] | 4.95 | align="right" |[[Thorium|Th]] | 3.4 |- | align="right" |[[Titanium|Ti]] | 4.33 | align="right" |[[Thallium|Tl]] | ~3.84 | align="right" |[[Uranium|U]] | 3.63 β 3.90 |- | align="right" |[[Vanadium|V]] | 4.3 | align="right" |[[Tungsten|W]] | 4.32 β 4.55 | align="right" |[[Yttrium|Y]] | 3.1 |- | align="right" |[[Ytterbium|Yb]] | 2.60<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0026-2692(95)00097-6 | issn = 0026-2692 | volume = 27 | issue = 1 | pages = 93β96 | last1 = Nikolic | first1 = M. V. | first2 = S. M. |last2=Radic|first3= V.|last3= Minic|first4= M. M. |last4=Ristic | title = The dependence of the work function of rare earth metals on their electron structure | journal = Microelectronics Journal | date = February 1996 }}</ref> | align="right" |[[Zinc|Zn]] | 3.63 β 4.9 | align="right" |[[Zirconium|Zr]] | 4.05 |}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)