Overview

Lithium was discovered in 1817 by Johan August Arfwedson, working in the Stockholm laboratory of Jons Jacob Berzelius, while analysing the mineral petalite. The metal itself was first isolated only later, by electrolysis, in the hands of William Brande and Humphry Davy around 1821. Its name comes from the Greek lithos, meaning stone, chosen because the new alkali had been found in a mineral, in contrast to sodium and potassium, which had been drawn from plant ashes and animal matter.

Lithium is the lightest of all metals and the least dense element that is solid at room temperature, soft enough to cut with a knife and reactive enough to be stored under oil. Its lightness and high electrochemical potential have made it the basis of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power phones, laptops and electric vehicles, and it also serves in heat-resistant ceramics and glass, in lightweight aircraft alloys and as a flux in metalwork.