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Article: Dysprosium
- Article from:
- Chemistry: Foundations and Applications
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dysprosium
melting point:
1,407
°
C
boiling point:
2,567
°
C
density:
8,551/kg m
−
3
most common ions:
Dy
4+
, Dy
3+
, Dy
2+
Dysprosium, taking its name from the Greek word
dysprositos,
meaning "hard to obtain," is a metallic element, discovered, but not isolated, in 1886 in Paris by the French scientist Paul-
É
mile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Its isolation was made possible by the development of ion-exchange separation in the 1950s. Dysprosium belongs to a series of elements called
rare earths
,
lanthanides
, or "4f elements." The occurrence of dysprosium is low: 4.5 ppm (parts per million), that is, 4.5 grams per metric ton in Earth's crust, and 2
×
10
−
7
ppm ...