Contrary to most other lanthanides, which have a close-packed hexagonal lattice, ytterbium crystallizes in the face-centered cubic system. Ytterbium has a density of 6.973 g/cm3, which is significantly lower than those of the neighboring lanthanides, thulium (9.32 g/cm3) and lutetium (9.841 g/cm3). Its melting and boiling points are also significantly lower than those of thulium and lutetium. This is due to the closed-shell electron configuration of ytterbium ( 4f14 6s2), which causes only the two 6s electrons to be available for metallic bonding (in contrast to the other lanthanides where three electrons are available) and increases ytterbium's metallic radius.