Holmium, Ho, atomic number 67.
Discovered in 1878 by Delafontaine and Soret. Holmium is the Latin name for Stockholm. As you are probably realising, much work on the rare earth’s was carried out in Scandinavia.
Triple A Learning IB Blogs
December 9, 2010
December 8, 2010
Rare Earth’s – Dysprosium
Dysprosium, Dy, atomic number 66
Dysprosium was first identified in 1886 by Boisboudran but it too another 65 years to obtain it in its pure form.
December 3, 2010
Rare Earth’s – Europium
Europium, symbol Eu, atomic mass 63.
Europium is a super conductor at around 2K. It is used interestingly to screen for genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome. It is also being considered to be used in nuclear reactors as it is a very good neutron absorber (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europium – accessed on 3rd Dec 2010).
December 2, 2010
November 22, 2010
The Rare Earths – Praeseodymium
Praeseodymium, symbol Pr, atomic number 59.
Perhaps the most unusually named element in the periodic table.
