It's Elemental
The Element Dysprosium
Dysprosium
Atomic Number: 66
Atomic Weight: 162.500
Melting Point: 1685 K (1412°C or 2574°F)
Boiling Point: 2840 K (2567°C or 4653°F)
Density: 8.55 grams per cubic centimeter
Phase at Room Temperature: Solid
Element Classification: Metal
Period Number: 6
Group Number: none
Group Name: Lanthanide
What's in a name? From the Greek word dysprositos, which means "hard to get at."
Say what? Dysprosium is pronounced as dis-PRO-see-em or as dis-PRO-she-em.
History and Uses:
Dysprosium was discovered by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, a French chemist, in 1886 as an impurity in erbia, the oxide of erbium. The metal was isolated by Georges Urbain, another French chemist, in 1906. Pure samples of dysprosium were first produced in the 1950s. Today, dysprosium is primarily obtained through an ion exchange process from monazite sand ((Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO4), a material rich in rare earth elements.
There are no commercial applications for dysprosium. Since it easily absorbs neutrons and has a high melting point, dysprosium might be alloyed with steel for use in nuclear reactors. When combined with vanadium and other rare earth elements, dysprosium is used as a laser material.
Dysprosium oxide (Dy2O3), also known as dysprosia, is combined with nickel and added to a special cement used to cool nuclear reactor rods. Other dysprosium compounds include: dysprosium fluoride (DyF3), dysprosium iodide (DyI3) and dysprosium sulfate (Dy2(SO4)3).
Estimated Crustal Abundance: 5.2 milligrams per kilogram
Estimated Oceanic Abundance: 9.1×10-7 milligrams per liter
Number of Stable Isotopes: 7 (View all isotope data)
Ionization Energy: 5.939 eV
Oxidation States: +3
1s2 | |
2s2 2p6 | |
3s2 3p6 3d10 | |
4s2 4p6 4d10 4f10 | |
5s2 5p6 | |
6s2 |
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