INTRODUCTION
Gadolinium is a silvery white metallic element with an atomic number of 64. It is one of the rare earth elements in the lanthanide series. It is named after the mineral gadolinite, in which the element was first detected.
Gadolinium occurs with other rare earth elements in many minerals, such as monazite, samarskite, gadolinite, and some varieties of Norwegian ytterspar. It is the 41st element in order of abundance in Earth’s crust.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 64
- Atomic Mass
- 157.25
- Atomic radius
- 0.161
- Ionization energy
- 1st,2nd,3rd (3744)
- Electronic config
- 2,8,18,25,9,2
- Principal Valency
- +2
- Density g/cm³
- 7.95
- Melting point °C
- 1312
- Boiling point °C
- 3273
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- N/A
- Element Category
- Lanthanide series
- Appearance
- Silvery white solid
- Block
- f-block
- Period
- 8
- Group
- 11
- No of Isotopes
- 36
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 6.1
- Year of Discovery
- 1880
EXTRACTION
It is obtain by ion exchange process
OXIDATION STATES
+1,+2,+3 (Mildly basic)
MAJOR SOURCE
Monazit, Samarskite, Gadolinite
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
Gadolinium oxide
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Gadolinium has the largest known cross section, or stopping power, for neutrons of any element, it is used as a component of control rods in nuclear reactors.
* it is used in electronic apparatuses such as capacitors and masers.
* Gadolinium metal alloys is used in high-temperature furnaces.
* It is also used for magnetic cooling apparatuses.
