INTRODUCTION
Praseodymium is silvery metallic element, and one of the rare earth elements in the lanthanide series. It is a paramagnetic metal that corrodes rapidly on exposure to moist air.
Praseodymium is found in cerite and other rare earth minerals such as monazite and bastnasite. It is widely distributed in nature and ranks 37th in order of abundance of the elements in Earth’s crust.
BASIC INFORMATIONS
- Atomic Number
- 59
- Atomic Mass
- 140.90766
- Atomic radius
- 0.164
- Ionization energy
- 1st,2nd,3rd (3623)
- Electronic config
- 2,8,18,21,8,2
- Principal Valency
- +2
- Density g/cm³
- 6.78
- Melting point °C
- 935
- Boiling point °C
- 3520
- Type of Element
- Metal
- Electronegativity
- N/A
- Element Category
- Lanthanide series
- Appearance
- Silvery solid
- Block
- f-block
- Period
- 8
- Group
- 6
- No of Isotopes
- 39
- Occurrence
- Combine form
- Abundance in ppm
- 9.1
- Year of Discovery
- 1885
EXTRACTION
It is obtain by ion exchange process
OXIDATION STATES
+4,+3,+2 (Mildly basic)
MAJOR SOURCE
Monazit, Bastnasite, Cerite
EXAMPLES OF COMPOUND PRESENT
Praseodyl oxide, Praseodyl Fluoride
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
* Praseodymium is used, with small amounts of other rare earth metals, in magnesium alloys and in misch metal.
* A mixture of praseodymium and neodymium is used to tint goggles for welders.
* Its alloy used for cigarette-lighter flints and as a deoxidizer in alloys and vacuum tubes.
* A beautiful yellow ceramic stain results from the addition of about 3 percent praseodymium oxide to zirconium oxide.