What are two uses for the lanthanide series?

What are two uses for the lanthanide series?

The lanthanides have a variety of nuclear applications. Because they absorb neutrons, they have been used in control rods used to regulate nuclear reactors. They have also been used as shielding materials, and as structural components in reactors. Some lanthanides have unusual magnetic properties.

Why is the lanthanide series important?

These alloys are composed of varying amounts of the lanthanide metals, mostly cerium and smaller amounts of others such as lanthanum, neodymium, and praseodymium. They have been used to impart strength, hardness, and inertness to structural materials.

What are actinides used in?

The actinides are valuable primarily because they are radioactive. These elements can be used as energy sources for applications as varied as cardiac pacemakers and generation of electrical energy for instruments on the moon. Uranium and plutonium have been employed in nuclear weapons and in nuclear power plants.

Which lanthanide is most commonly used?

The most common lanthanide is cerium.

What are the main sources of lanthanides?

Occurrence. The most important source of the lanthanides is monazite, a heavy dark sand found in Brazil, India, Australia, South Africa, and the United States. The composition of monazite varies depending on its location, but it generally contains about 50 percent of lanthanide compounds by weight.

What are actinides give examples?

The most abundant or easily synthesized actinides are uranium and thorium, followed by plutonium, americium, actinium, protactinium, neptunium, and curium.

What is another name for actinides?

actinoid element, also called actinide element, any of a series of 15 consecutive chemical elements in the periodic table from actinium to lawrencium (atomic numbers 89–103). As a group, they are significant largely because of their radioactivity.

Which lanthanides has configuration?

Gadolinium has the f7 d1 configuration, consistent with our expectation of a stabilized half-filled f shell….Electron Configuration.

Name	lanthanum
Symbol	La
Atomic number	57
Electron configuration	(Xe)5d1 6s2

Why is Didymium glass used?

Didymium lenses protect the eyes from certain visible and UV light produced in the glassblowing process. They enable the glassblower to see the glass while it is being worked in the flame.

What can lanthanides be used for in electronics?

Lanthanides are valued for their use in electronics, particularly television and monitor displays. They are used in lighters, lasers, superconductors, to color glass, to make materials phosphorescent, and to control nuclear reactions.

Are there any rare metals in the lanthanide series?

Composed of lanthanum and the 14 elements of the lanthanide series, the lanthanides were once called the “rare earth” metals. In fact, they are not particularly rare: many of them appear in as much abundance as more familiar elements such as mercury.

What are the properties of the lanthanide group?

Properties of the Lanthanides Because the lanthanides are all transition metals, these elements share common characteristics. In pure form, they are bright, metallic, and silvery in appearance. The most common oxidation state for most of these elements is +3, although +2 and +4 are also generally stable.

What are the atomic numbers of the lanthanide series?

The lanthanide series consists of the 14 elements, with atomic numbers 58 through 71, that follow lanthanum on the periodic table of elements. These 14, along with the actinides-atomic numbers 90 through 103-are set aside from the periodic table due to similarities in properties that define each group.