Boiling points of the elements

The boiling point is the temperature at which the liquid turns to vapour at atmospheric pressure. PubChem gives it in kelvin, and the ranked list shows degrees Celsius alongside. The values are PubChem’s, published by the US National Institutes of Health. It gives one for 93 of the 118 elements; the rest are hatched in the table below rather than coloured as if they were zero.

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H 20.28, hydrogen He 4.22, helium Li 1615, lithium Be 2744, beryllium B 4273, boron C 4098, carbon N 77.36, nitrogen O 90.2, oxygen F 85.03, fluorine Ne 27.07, neon Na 1156, sodium Mg 1363, magnesium Al 2792, aluminium Si 3538, silicon P 553.7, phosphorus S 717.8, sulfur Cl 239.1, chlorine Ar 87.3, argon K 1032, potassium Ca 1757, calcium Sc 3109, scandium Ti 3560, titanium V 3680, vanadium Cr 2944, chromium Mn 2334, manganese Fe 3134, iron Co 3200, cobalt Ni 3186, nickel Cu 2835, copper Zn 1180, zinc Ga 2477, gallium Ge 3106, germanium As 887, arsenic Se 958, selenium Br 332, bromine Kr 119.9, krypton Rb 961, rubidium Sr 1655, strontium Y 3618, yttrium Zr 4682, zirconium Nb 5017, niobium Mo 4912, molybdenum Tc 4538, technetium Ru 4423, ruthenium Rh 3968, rhodium Pd 3236, palladium Ag 2435, silver Cd 1040, cadmium In 2345, indium Sn 2875, tin Sb 1860, antimony Te 1261, tellurium I 457.6, iodine Xe 165, xenon Cs 944, caesium Ba 2170, barium La 3737, lanthanum Ce 3697, cerium Pr 3793, praseodymium Nd 3347, neodymium Pm 3273, promethium Sm 2067, samarium Eu 1802, europium Gd 3546, gadolinium Tb 3503, terbium Dy 2840, dysprosium Ho 2973, holmium Er 3141, erbium Tm 2223, thulium Yb 1469, ytterbium Lu 3675, lutetium Hf 4876, hafnium Ta 5731, tantalum W 5828, tungsten Re 5869, rhenium Os 5285, osmium Ir 4701, iridium Pt 4098, platinum Au 3129, gold Hg 629.9, mercury Tl 1746, thallium Pb 2022, lead Bi 1837, bismuth Po 1235, polonium At no value, astatine Rn 211.5, radon Fr no value, francium Ra 1413, radium Ac 3471, actinium Th 5061, thorium Pa no value, protactinium U 4404, uranium Np 4175, neptunium Pu 3501, plutonium Am 2284, americium Cm 3400, curium Bk no value, berkelium Cf no value, californium Es no value, einsteinium Fm no value, fermium Md no value, mendelevium No no value, nobelium Lr no value, lawrencium Rf no value, rutherfordium Db no value, dubnium Sg no value, seaborgium Bh no value, bohrium Hs no value, hassium Mt no value, meitnerium Ds no value, darmstadtium Rg no value, roentgenium Cn no value, copernicium Nh no value, nihonium Fl no value, flerovium Mc no value, moscovium Lv no value, livermorium Ts no value, tennessine Og no value, oganesson

How it changes across a period and down a group

Boiling points follow the same broad shape as melting points, peaking in the middle of the transition series and falling to a minimum at the noble gases, but the peaks are higher and sit slightly differently. Rhenium, at 5869 K, has the highest boiling point in the table, with tungsten next at 5828 K.

Boiling separates atoms or molecules completely rather than just loosening them, so it tracks the strength of the bonding more directly than melting does, and for metals the gap between the two is large: the liquid range of most transition metals is more than 1000 K, and for about a third of them more than 2000 K.

Down group 18 the boiling point rises at every step, from helium’s 4.22 K to radon’s 211.45 K, because heavier atoms have larger, more easily distorted electron clouds and stronger dispersion forces between them. Down group 1 it falls, from lithium’s 1615 K to caesium’s 944 K, as the metallic bond weakens.

Extremes and exceptions

Highest and lowest

• Rhenium, 5869 K
• Tungsten, 5828 K
• Tantalum, 5731 K
• Helium, 4.22 K
• Hydrogen, 20.28 K
• Neon, 27.07 K

The three highest and the three lowest boiling points PubChem lists, in kelvin.

The highest boiling point in each period

• Period 2: boron, 4273 K
• Period 3: silicon, 3538 K
• Period 4: vanadium, 3680 K
• Period 5: niobium, 5017 K
• Period 6: rhenium, 5869 K

Period 2 peaks at boron, not carbon, but carbon’s figure is not a true boiling point: it sublimes. From period 4 on the peak is in the transition metals, as it is for melting, though in periods 5 and 6 it falls on niobium and rhenium rather than on molybdenum and tungsten.

The 93 elements with a value, ranked

Equal values share a rank, marked with =.

No value in PubChem’s table, so not ranked: astatine, francium, protactinium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium, lawrencium, rutherfordium, dubnium, seaborgium, bohrium, hassium, meitnerium, darmstadtium, roentgenium, copernicium, nihonium, flerovium, moscovium, livermorium, tennessine and oganesson.

The values are facts and free to use; this table’s selection and presentation are © 2026 ScienceQuest.

Caveats

• Arsenic’s boiling point, 887 K, is below its melting point, 1090 K. That is not a transcription error: at atmospheric pressure arsenic sublimes, passing straight from solid to vapour at about 887 K, and it melts only under pressure.
• Carbon also sublimes at atmospheric pressure, so its 4098 K is not a boiling point in the ordinary sense.
• Helium has the lowest boiling point, 4.22 K, and it is the one element that stays liquid at atmospheric pressure all the way down to absolute zero.
• PubChem’s table has no boiling point for 25 elements, among them astatine, francium and protactinium; they are hatched in the table above, not zero.

See also

• The interactive periodic table, with every element’s details
• Temperature conversion formulas
• Heating curve calculator, for melting and boiling a real sample
• All the elements, each with its own page of data