Iodine was discovered by a French chemist named Bernard Courtois in 1811. While running experiments on seaweed he stepped on iodine. Bernard Courtois was a French chemist born in Dijon, France on February 8, 1777, in a house just across the street from the famous old Dijon Academy. Even though he discovered the element, he lacked the resources to identify it as a new element. He died on September 27, 1838, Paris, France ("Discovery of Iodine by Bernard Courtois,"). Gay-Lussac was a French chemist who identified it as a new element and suggested the …show more content…
It is a halogen and a non-metal. The atomic number of iodine is 53. It has 53 electrons and 53 protons with its 7 valence electrons in the outer shell. The atomic weight is approximately 126.904 amu. The phase at room temperature is solid. Its density is 4.933 grams per cubic cm. Iodine has two sets of melting points and boiling points both in Celsius and Fahrenheit. The melting points are 113.7°C, or236.66°F. The boiling points are 184.3°C, or 363.7°F ("Chemistry for Kids: Elements -