Melting points of the elements

The melting point is the temperature at which the solid turns to liquid, at atmospheric pressure unless noted. PubChem gives it in kelvin; subtract 273.15 for degrees Celsius, which the ranked list shows alongside. The values are PubChem’s, published by the US National Institutes of Health. It gives one for 103 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 13.81, hydrogen He 0.95, helium Li 453.7, lithium Be 1560, beryllium B 2348, boron C 3823, carbon N 63.15, nitrogen O 54.36, oxygen F 53.53, fluorine Ne 24.56, neon Na 371, sodium Mg 923, magnesium Al 933.4, aluminium Si 1687, silicon P 317.3, phosphorus S 388.4, sulfur Cl 171.7, chlorine Ar 83.8, argon K 336.5, potassium Ca 1115, calcium Sc 1814, scandium Ti 1941, titanium V 2183, vanadium Cr 2180, chromium Mn 1519, manganese Fe 1811, iron Co 1768, cobalt Ni 1728, nickel Cu 1358, copper Zn 692.7, zinc Ga 302.9, gallium Ge 1211, germanium As 1090, arsenic Se 493.7, selenium Br 266, bromine Kr 115.8, krypton Rb 312.5, rubidium Sr 1050, strontium Y 1795, yttrium Zr 2128, zirconium Nb 2750, niobium Mo 2896, molybdenum Tc 2430, technetium Ru 2607, ruthenium Rh 2237, rhodium Pd 1828, palladium Ag 1235, silver Cd 594.2, cadmium In 429.8, indium Sn 505.1, tin Sb 903.8, antimony Te 722.7, tellurium I 386.9, iodine Xe 161.4, xenon Cs 301.6, caesium Ba 1000, barium La 1191, lanthanum Ce 1071, cerium Pr 1204, praseodymium Nd 1294, neodymium Pm 1315, promethium Sm 1347, samarium Eu 1095, europium Gd 1586, gadolinium Tb 1629, terbium Dy 1685, dysprosium Ho 1747, holmium Er 1802, erbium Tm 1818, thulium Yb 1092, ytterbium Lu 1936, lutetium Hf 2506, hafnium Ta 3290, tantalum W 3695, tungsten Re 3459, rhenium Os 3306, osmium Ir 2719, iridium Pt 2042, platinum Au 1337, gold Hg 234.3, mercury Tl 577, thallium Pb 600.6, lead Bi 544.6, bismuth Po 527, polonium At 575, astatine Rn 202, radon Fr 300, francium Ra 973, radium Ac 1324, actinium Th 2023, thorium Pa 1845, protactinium U 1408, uranium Np 917, neptunium Pu 913, plutonium Am 1449, americium Cm 1618, curium Bk 1323, berkelium Cf 1173, californium Es 1133, einsteinium Fm 1800, fermium Md 1100, mendelevium No 1100, nobelium Lr 1900, 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

Melting point has no single trend across a period, because the kind of bonding changes along the row. Each period climbs from soft metals on the left to a peak in the middle, where the bonding is strongest, and then collapses at the nonmetals, whose solids are small molecules or single atoms held together only by weak forces between them.

The peak in each row is found in the data below: carbon and silicon for periods 2 and 3, which form networks of covalent bonds, then vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten for periods 4 to 6, in the middle of each transition series, where a metal has the most electrons available for metallic bonding. Carbon, at 3823 K, and tungsten, at 3695 K, are the two highest in the table.

Down a group the direction depends on the bonding. In group 1 the melting point falls at every step, from lithium’s 453.65 K to caesium’s 301.59 K, because larger atoms hold their shared electrons less tightly and the metallic bond weakens. In group 17 it rises at every step from fluorine’s 53.53 K to iodine’s 386.85 K, because bigger molecules have more electrons and stronger dispersion forces between them, and astatine’s estimated 575 K continues the rise.

Mercury is the one metal that is liquid at 25 °C: it melts at −38.83 °C. Gallium and caesium melt only a few degrees above 25 °C, at 29.76 °C and 28.44 °C, which is still below body temperature.

Extremes and exceptions

Highest and lowest

• Carbon, 3823 K
• Tungsten, 3695 K
• Rhenium, 3459 K
• Helium, 0.95 K
• Hydrogen, 13.81 K
• Neon, 24.56 K

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

The highest melting point in each period

• Period 2: carbon, 3823 K
• Period 3: silicon, 1687 K
• Period 4: vanadium, 2183 K
• Period 5: molybdenum, 2896 K
• Period 6: tungsten, 3695 K

Periods 2 and 3 peak at a covalent network solid, and periods 4 to 6 at the middle of their transition series.

The 103 elements with a value, ranked

Equal values share a rank, marked with =.

No value in PubChem’s table, so not ranked: 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

• Helium cannot be frozen at atmospheric pressure however far it is cooled, so its 0.95 K is a melting point for helium held under pressure.
• At atmospheric pressure carbon does not melt at all: graphite sublimes, passing straight from solid to vapour, and liquid carbon exists only under pressure. PubChem’s 3823 K is therefore not a temperature at which a lump of graphite melts at 1 atm.
• Arsenic sublimes at atmospheric pressure too, which is why PubChem lists its boiling point, 887 K, below its melting point, 1090 K. It melts only under pressure.
• Astatine, francium and the four elements from fermium to lawrencium have never been collected in amounts that could be melted and watched, so their figures are estimates rather than measurements.

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