Topics Covered
Chemical Formula
Discovery
Basic Information
Occurrence
Isotopes
Production
Health Aspects
Key Properties
Applications
Reference
Chemical Formula
Tb
Discovery
Carl Gustaf Mosander, a Swedish scientist, discovered terbium in 1843. At the time, Terbium was only available as an impurity in yttria. The pure form of this element was first prepared by Jean-Charles-Galissard de Marignac, a French chemist, in 1886.
Basic Information
|
Name |
Terbium |
|
Symbol |
Tb |
|
Atomic number |
65 |
|
Atomic weight |
158.92535 (2) |
|
Standard state |
Solid at 298 K |
|
CAS Registry ID |
7440-27-9 |
|
Group name |
Lanthanoid |
|
Period in periodic table |
6 (lanthanoid) |
|
Block in periodic table |
f-block |
|
Color |
Silvery white |
|
Classification |
Metallic |
|
Melting point |
1629 K (1356°C or 2473°F) |
|
Boiling point |
3503 K (3230°C or 5846°F) |
|
Density |
8.23 g/cm3 |
|
Phase at room temperature |
Solid |
Occurrence
Terbium occurs with other Lanthanides in minerals that include euxenite, monazite, gadolinite, xenotime and cerite.
Terbium - Periodic Table of Videos
Isotopes
Terbium has 26 isotopes with terbium-159 being the only isotope that that occurs in nature. These 26 isotopes have mass numbers ranging from 140 to 165.
Production
The production of terbium involves obtaining fractions of different basicity from yttria using ammonium hydroxide. Two substances known as terbia and erbia were obtained from these fractions. Terbia and erbia contain the rare earth elements terbium and erbium.
Terbium is usually obtained in the form of the compound terbium fluoride (TbF3 ) when the standard procedure is used to separate the rare earth elements. Terbium is obtained when electric current passes through the compound terbium fluoride.
Key Properties
The key properties of terbium include:
-
It has a silver-gray luster like other metals
-
It is soft and can be cut using a knife
-
It can be easily drawn into wires and hammered into thin sheets
-
It is reasonably stable in air though slowly oxidized
-
It reacts with cold water
-
It dissolves in acids.
Applications
Terbium is useful in the following applications:
-
It is mostly used in phosphors
-
It is used to dope a few varieties of solid-state devices
-
It is used as a as a crystal stabilizer along with zirconium dioxide in fuel cells that function at high temperatures
-
Terbium-149, a radioactive isotope, is used in the field of medicine as the radiation of this isotope does not travel very far and thus does not cause any damage to the healthy cells.
Reference
http://www.webelements.com/helium/
http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele002.html
http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/C-K/Helium.html http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/he.htm
www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/108/hassium
http://www.chemicool.com/elements/hassium.html
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