68. Erbium

Name: Erbium
Symbol: Er
Atomic Number: 68
Atomic Mass: 167.26 amu
Melting Point: 1522.0 °C (1795.15 °K, 2771.6 °F)
Boiling Point: 2510.0 °C (2783.15 °K, 4550.0 °F)
Number of Protons/Electrons: 68
Number of Neutrons: 99
Classification: Rare Earth
Crystal Structure: Hexagonal
Density(293 K): 8.795 g/cm3
Color: grayish

Pure erbium metal is soft and malleable and has a bright, silvery, metallic lustre. As with other rare-earth metals, its properties depend to a certain extent on impurities present. The metal is fairly stable in air and does not oxidise as rapidly as some of the other rare-earth metals.

Erbium (for Ytterby, a town in Sweden) was discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843. Mosander separated "yttria" from the mineral gadolinite into three fractions which he called yttria, erbia, and terbia. He named the new element after the town of Ytterby where large concentrations of yttria and erbium are located. Erbia and terbia, however, were confused in at this time. After 1860, what had been known as terbia was renamed erbia and after 1877 what had been known as erbia was renamed terbia. Fairly pure Er2O3 was independently isolated in 1905 by Georges Urbain and Charles James. Reasonably pure metal wasn't produced until 1934 when workers reduced the anhydrous chloride with potassium vapor.

As with the other lanthanides, erbium compounds are of low to moderate toxicity, although their toxicity has not been investigated in detail.

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Non-metals H, C, N, O, P, S, Se
Halogens F, Cl, Br, I, At
Alkali metals Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr
Alkaline Earth Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra
Transition metals Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Rf, Db, Sg, Bh, Hs, Mt, Ds, Rg, Uub
Metalloids B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Te, Po
Other metals Al, Ga, In, Sn, Tl, Pb, Bi
Rare Earth Lu, Lr, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Ac, Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Bk, Cf, Es, Fm, Md, No
Noble gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn

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