INTRODUCTION
Cerium is a soft, gray metallic element, and the most abundant of the rare earth elements. It ranks 26th in natural abundance among the elements in Earth's crust. It was named for the asteroid Ceres, which had just been discovered in 1801.
It occurs with other rare earth metals in monazite, which is found widely distributed worldwide, and bastnasite, found in southern California.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 58
- Atomic Mass
- 140.116
- Atomic radius
- 0.165
- Ionization energy
- 1st,2nd,3rd (3512)
- Electronic config
- 2,8,18,19,9,2
- Principal Valency
- +2
- Density g/cm³
- 6.78
- Melting point °C
- 795
- Boiling point °C
- 3443
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- N/A
- Element Category
- Lanthanide series
- Appearance
- Gray solid
- Block
- f-block
- Period
- 8
- Group
- 5
- No of Isotopes
- 39
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 66
- Year of Discovery
- 1803
EXTRACTION
It is obtain by ion exchange process
OXIDATION STATES
+4,+3,+2,+1 (Mildly basic)
MAJOR SOURCE
Monazit, Bastnasite, Cerite
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
Ceric oxide, Ceric sulfate, Cerous nitrate
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Cerium compounds are employed in small quantities in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, arc-lamp electrodes, and photoelectric cells.
* Cerous nitrate is used medicinally in the treatment of seasickness and chronic vomiting.
* Cerium is found mainly in an alloy with iron that composes the flints used in cigarette lighters.
* Ceric sulfate is used in analytic-chemistry laboratories as an oxidizing agent.
