Article: Holmium

Holmium


melting point: 1,461 ° C
boiling point: 2,720 ° C
density: 8.803 g/cm 3
most common ions: Ho 3+

A member of the lanthanide , or rare earth, series of elements, holmium is a gray, somewhat shiny, soft metal . It is usually found in minerals containing several of the lanthanides. Because the rare earths all have the same outer electron shell configuration (6s 2 ), their chemical properties are very similar, making it difficult to separate them from one another in the minerals in which they are usually complexed. They are best separated via repeated ion-exchange purification, a process developed in the United States during the 1940s. Although several of the rare ...

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