Ytterbium is a chemical element with the symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state.

How was ytterbium discovered?

Ytterbium was discovered by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac in 1878, in Geneva, Switzerland. He heated erbium nitrate until it decomposed and then extracted the residue, which contained an unknown white powder that he named ytterbium oxide (ytterbia).

Where is ytterbium found?

Ytterbium is found with other rare-earth elements in several rare minerals. It is most often recovered commercially from monazite sand (0.03% ytterbium). The element is also found in euxenite and xenotime. The main mining areas are China, the United States, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

Who discovered yttrium 90?

Yttrium was discovered in 1794 by Johan Gadolin, a Finnish chemist, in a sample of mineral originating from Ytterby (Sweden).

How was vanadium discovered twice?

Vanadium was discovered twice.

Vanadium was originally discovered way back in 1801 by a professor in Mexico City named Andrés Manuel del Rio. ... Vanadium was then discovered again by a Swedish chemist named Nils Gabriel Sefstrôm in 1830. He did it after inspecting iron samples that were found in a mine in Sweden.

Ytterbium - Periodic Table of Videos

Where do you find vanadium in everyday life?

Vanadium can be used to make steel alloys, for use in space vehicles, nuclear reactors and aircraft carriers, etc. Vanadium steel alloys' strength means that they are perfectly suited to the creation of tools, axels, piston rods and as girders in construction. Vanadium can be utilised in ceramics as a pigment.

Is ytterbium rare or common?

Ytterbium is the 44th most abundant element in the Earth's crust. It is one of the more common rare earths, present at about 2.7 to 8 parts per million in the crust. It is common in the mineral monazite.

Where is ytterbium used?

Ytterbium has the lowest boiling point of the rare-earth metals. The element has little practical use beyond research. Radioactive ¹⁶⁹Yb isotope is a source of hard X-rays useful in portable radiographic devices. It is used as a dopant in a variety of optical materials, including lenses.

What is an interesting fact about ytterbium?

Ytterbium has a bright silvery luster, is soft, malleable, and quite ductile. One of the lanthanides, it is fairly stable in air but is readily attacked and dissolved by dilute and concentrated mineral acids and reacts slowly with water. Ytterbium occurs along with other rare earths in a number of rare minerals.

What are 3 uses for ytterbium?

Ytterbium has few uses. It can be alloyed with stainless steel to improve some of its mechanical properties and used as a doping agent in fiber optic cable where it can be used as an amplifier. One of ytterbium's isotopes is being considered as a radiation source for portable X-ray machines.

What is the difference between yttrium and ytterbium?

As nouns the difference between ytterbium and yttrium

is that ytterbium is a metallic chemical element (symbol yb) with an atomic number of 70 while yttrium is a metallic chemical element (symbol y) with an atomic number of 39.

What is the cost of ytterbium?

It is expected that the price of ytterbium oxide will reach some 69 U.S. dollars per kilogram in 2017.

Why is vanadium so special?

Vanadium is a medium-hard, steel-blue metal. Although a lesser-known metal, it is quite valuable in the manufacturing industry due to its malleable, ductile and corrosion-resistant qualities. ... Around 98 percent of mined vanadium ore comes from South Africa, Russia, and China.

Is vanadium toxic?

At common concentrations, vanadium is non-toxic. The main source for potentially toxic effects caused by vanadium is exposure to high loads of vanadium oxides in the breathing air of vanadium processing industrial enterprises. Vanadium can enter the body via the lungs or, more commonly, the stomach.

When did Andrés Manuel del Río discover vanadium?

discovery of vanadium

(1801) by the Spanish mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río, who named it erythronium but eventually came to believe it was merely impure chromium.

Who Discovered iron?

The first person to explain the various types of iron was René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur who wrote a book on the subject in 1722. This explained how steel, wrought iron, and cast iron, were to be distinguished by the amount of charcoal (carbon) they contained.

What color is yttrium?

Yttrium is a silvery white, moderately soft, ductile metal. It is quite stable in air; rapid oxidation begins above approximately 450 °C (840 °F), resulting in Y₂O₃.

What was samarium named after?

The mineral samarskite, from which samarium was first isolated, is named after Colonel Samarsky, a Russian mine official. The Soviet hammer, sickle and star are on a background that reflects the use of the element in lasers. A silvery-white metal. Samarium-cobalt magnets are much more powerful than iron magnets.