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scandium - Word of the Day - Sun Dec 1, 2024

Myr

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scandium - (n) - the chemical element of atomic number 21, a soft silvery-white metal generally included among the rare earth elements

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Scandium-aluminum alloyws are often used in advanced engineering applications like aerospace and sporting goods.

 

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Bill W

Bill W 47,451

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The name derives from the Latin scandia for Scandinavia, where the mineral was found. It was discovered by the Swedish chemist Lars-Fredrik Nilson in 1879 in an ytterbium sample. In the same year, the Swedish chemist Per Theodore Cleve proved that scandium was Mendeleev's predicted "eka-boron". 

Scandium is not as rare as its name rare-earth element suggests. Actually, it is the 32th abundant element on Earth, far ahead of gold, which ranks 75. However, like other rare-earth elements, scandium spreads separately in the crust and often combines with other rare-earth elements to form ore.

Scandium is considered a rare element, although not as rare as some others; it's widely distributed in small quantities across many minerals, making it difficult to extract in large amounts, and its primary source is the rare mineral thortveitite, found mainly in Scandinavia and Madagascar. While present in the Earth's crust at around 22 parts per million, which is comparable to cobalt, its dispersed nature means it's not readily accessible. 
 
 
 

Most of the isotopes of scandium have a half-live of lesser than two-minutes.

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