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The rare-earth elements are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. They
include the lanthanides and scandium and yttrium. Although the latter two elements are not lanthanides, they
are considered rare-earth elements because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and
exhibit similar chemical properties, but have different electrical and magnetic properties.
The rare earth elements tarnish slowly in air at room temperature and react slowly with cold water to form
hydroxides, liberating hydrogen. They react with steam to form oxides and ignite spontaneously at a temperature of
400°C
(Wiki).
The lanthanides belong to the series of 15 consecutive chemical elements in the periodic table from lanthanum to
lutetium, atomic numbers 57 to 71; scandium and yttrium have atomic numbers 21 and 39 respectively.
The Rare Earth Elements
Scandium, Sc
Yttrium, Y
Lanthanum, La
Cerium, Ce
Praseodymium, Pr
Neodymium, Nd
Promethium, Pm - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
Samarium, Sm
Europium, Eu - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
Gadolinium, Gd
Terbium, Tb - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
Dysprosium, Dy
Holmium, Ho - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
Erbium, Er
Thulium, Tm - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
Ytterbium, Yb
Lutetium, Lu - not a component of any approved naturally occurring minerals
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