Yttrium Atomic Number

Chemical properties of Yttrium - Health effects of yttrium - Environmental effects of yttrium

There are 44 isotopes yttrium that are recognized (1). Yttrium-89 is naturally occurring and is stable (2). Yttrium -76 through 88 and yttrium-90 through 107 are artificially produced and are radioactive (2). (1) Lide DR; CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 86th Edition 2005-2006. Atomic Number of Yttrium is 39. Chemical symbol for Yttrium is Y. Number of protons in Yttrium is 39. Atomic weight of Yttrium is 88.90584 u or g/mol. Atomic Number of Yttrium Yttrium is a chemical element with atomic number 39 which means there are 39 protons and 39 electrons in the atomic structure. The chemical symbol for Yttrium is Y. The atom consist of a small but massive nucleus surrounded by a cloud of rapidly moving electrons. Yttrium (symbol Y, atomic number 39) is a chemical element classified as a rare earth element, which is never found naturally as a free element. Properties, Isotopes, and Occurrence The element atomic weight of 88.9. Its melting and boiling points are known to be 1522 C, and 3345 C respectively. Natural yttrium (39 Y) is composed of a single isotope yttrium-89. The most stable radioisotopes are 88 Y, which has a half-life of 106.6 days and 91 Y with a half-life of 58.51 days. All the other isotopes have half-lives of less than a day, except 87 Y, which has a half-life of 79.8 hours, and 90 Y, with 64 hours.

Atomic number	39
Atomic mass	88.9059 g.mol^-1
Electronegativity according to Pauling	1.2
Density	4.47 g.cm^-3 at 20°C
Melting point	1500 °C
Boiling point	3336 °C
Vanderwaals radius	0.106 nm (+3)
Isotopes	10
Electronic shell	[ Kr ] 4d¹ 5s²
Energy of first ionisation	626 kJ.mol^-1
Energy of second ionisation	1185 kJ.mol^-1
Energy of third ionisation	1980 kJ.mol^-1
Discovered by	Johann Gadolin in 1794

Yttirum

Yttrium is a highly crystalline iron-gray, rare-earth metal. Yttrium is fairly stable in air, because it is proteced by the formation by the formation of a stable oxide film on its surface, but oxidizes readily when heated. It reacts with water decomposing it to release hydrogen gas, and it reacts with mineral acids. Shavings or turnings of the metal can ignite in air when they exceed 400 °C. When yttrium is finely divided it is very unstable in air.

Applications

The largest use of the element is as its oxide yttria, Y₂O₃, which is used in making red phosphors for color television picture tubes. Yttrium metal has found some use alloyed in small amounts with other metals and It is used to increase the strength of aluminium and magnesium alloys. When added to cast iron it make the metal more workable. Although metals are generally very good at conducting heat, there is an alloy of yttrium with chromium and aluminium which is heat resistant. Yttrium oxide in glass makes it heat- and shock-resistant, and is used for camera lenses. Yttrium oxide is suitable to making superconductors, which are metal oxides which conduct electricity without any loss of energy.

Yttrium in the environment

Yttrium never occurs in nature as a free element. It is found in almost all rare earth minerals and in uranium ores. The yellow-brown ore xenotime can contain as much as 50% yttrium phophate (YPO4) and is mined in Malaysia. Yttrium is found in the rare-earth mineral monazite, of which it makes 2.5%, and in smaller quantities in other minerals such as barnasite, fergusonite and smarskite. The output of yttrium is about 600 tonnes per year, measured as yttrium oxide, and world reserves are estimated to be around 9 million tonnes.

Health effects of yttrium

Yttrium is one of the rare chemicals, that can be found in houses in equipment such as colour televisions, fluorescent lamps, energy-saving lamps and glasses. All rare chemicals have comparable properties.
Yttrium can rarely be found in nature, as it occurs in very small amounts. Yttrium is usually found only in two different kinds of ores. The use of yttrium is still growing, due to the fact that it is suited to produce catalysers and to polish glass.
Yttrium is mostly dangerous in the working environment, due to the fact that damps and gasses can be inhaled with air. This can cause lung embolisms, especially during long-term exposure. Yttrium can also cause cancer with humans, as it enlarges the chances of lung cancer when it is inhaled. Finally, it can be a threat to the liver when it accumulates in the human body.

Effects of yttrium on the Environment

Yttrium is dumped in the environment in many different places, mainly by petrol-producing industries. It can also enter the environment when household equipment is thrown away. Yttrium will gradually accumulate in soils and water soils and this will eventually lead to increasing concentrations in humans, animals and soil particles.
With water animals yttrium causes damage to cell membranes, which has several negative influences on reproduction and on the functions of the nervous system.

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Yttrium Element

How Expensive is this stuff?

Yttrium metal of 99.9% purity is commercially available at a cost of about $75/oz.

Appearance
Yttrium is a silvery-white, soft metal which is relatively stable in air due to formation of the oxide film.
Source
Yttrium occurs in nearly all the rare-earth minerals. It is recovered commercially from monazite sand and bastnaezite by reduction with calcium metal.

Yttrium is used to make Superconductors:

Yttrium Mass Number

With the advent of high temperature superconduction, it is relatively simple to prepare and use a ceramic high temperature superconductor in most sixth form/college science labs.

Crystal structure of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ - the so-called '1-2-3' superconductor. The Blue center atom is Yttrium. The turquoise are barium, the small pink are copper, and the red are oxygen. Click here for a link to make this superconductor!

History of Yttrium:

(Ytterby, a village in Sweden near Vauxholm Click here to see a map of Sweden!) Yttria, which is an earth containing yttrium, was discovered by Gadolin in 1794. Ytterby is the site of a quarry which yielded many unusual minerals containing rare earths and other elements. This small town, near Stockholm, bears the honor of giving names to erbium, terbium, and ytterbium as well as yttrium. In 1843 Mosander showed that yttira could be resolved into the oxides (or earths) of three elements. The name yttria was reserved for the most basic one; the others were named erbia and terbia. Yttrium occurs in nearly all of the rare-earth minerals. Analysis of lunar rock samples obtained during the Apollo missions show a relatively high yttrium content. It is recovered commercially from monazite sand, which contains about 3%, and from bastnasite, which contains about 0.2%. Wohler obtained the impure element in 1828 by reduction of the anhydrous chloride with potassium. The metal is now produced commercially by reduction of the fluoride with calcium metal.

Uses for Yttrium:

~Yttrium oxide is one of the most important compounds of yttrium and accounts for the largest use. It is widely used in making YVO4 europium, and Y2O3 europium phosphors to give the red color in color television tubes.

~Yttrium oxide also is used to produce yttrium-iron-garnets, which are very effective microwave filters.

~Yttrium iron, aluminum, and gadolinium garnets, with formulas such as Y3Fe5O12 and Y3Al5O12, have interesting magnetic properties. Yttrium iron garnet is also exceptionally efficient as both a transmitter and transducer of acoustic energy.

~Yttrium aluminum garnet, with a hardness of 8.5, is also finding use as a gemstone (simulated diamond).

~Small amounts of yttrium (0.1 to 0.2%) can be used to reduce the grain size in chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, and titanium, and to increase strength of aluminum and magnesium alloys. Alloys with other useful properties can be obtained by using yttrium as an additive.

~Yttrium is also finding application in laser systems and as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization.

~It also has potential use in ceramic and glass formulas, as the oxide has a high melting point and imparts shock resistance and low expansion characteristics to glass.

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