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Article: Ytterbium
- Article from:
- Chemistry: Foundations and Applications
- Author:
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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Ytterbium
melting point:
824
°
C
boiling point:
1,196
°
C
density:
6.98 g/cm
3
most common ions:
Yb(III)
Ytterbium was discovered by the Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac in 1878 and named after the town of Ytterby, in Sweden (the site of the discovery of the ore with which de Marignac worked). Its primary source is xenotime and monazite ores, which are mixtures of rare earth orthophosphates. In the earth, ytterbium is more abundant than tin. Ytterbium has been found in meteorites, in lunar rock samples, and to a small extent in the oceans.
At room temperature the element is a silvery
metal
. Its ground state electronic configuration is Xe 6
s
2
4
f
14
. ...