Neodymium
Neodymium Magnets
Element Name: Neodymium
Atomic Number: 60
Atomic Mass: 144.242
Atomic Symbol: Nd
Melting Point: 1021° C
Boiling Point: 3074° C
“Discovered” in 1841 by Carl Gustaf Mosandor, but it wasn’t until 1885 that it was separated from its twin Praseodymium. Neodymium is a soft, bright, silvery rare earth metals. It’s a highly reactive lanthanide with oxidizes quickly in air. Neodymium has 30 isotopes, and 7 of them are found in nature. Neodymium has two allotropes that transform depending its heat. Many neodymium compounds are purple or lavender. Neodymium is a trivalent ion.
Interesting Facts:
Neodymium comes from the greek root “neos”, which means “new”, and didymos, meaning “twin”; neodymium’s “twin” is Praseodymium. Incandescent light bulbs sometimes use neodymium to filter out some of the offensive yellow light. In photography, lenses which are used in incandescent-lit areas sometimes have neodymium in them to filter out the same yellow light.
Sources:
Elemental neodymium requires ion-exchange or solvent extraction to separate it from its salts; it is not found free in nature. Several minerals contain Neodymium including monazite, bastnaesite, ancylite, and lanthanite. Neodymium is exceptionally abundant, at 33 parts per million it is the second most common rare earth element after cerium.
Industrial Uses:
Neodymium’s most prodigious use is in Neodymium Iron Boron (NIB) magnets. They are the strongest permanent magnets commercially available. These magnets are used in things like computer hard drives, motors, speakers, cell phones, and engines. Neodymium is also used in glass. It has a wide variety of colors it can take depending on the lighting; these colors range from violet to red and gray. Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet is used as crystals in lasers. These lasers are used widely in applications like hair removal, cancer treatment, and cutting or welding steel. Neodymium also makes up around 20% of misch metal, the flint in common lighters. Tint welding goggles make use of neodymium’s excellent light absorption properties. For similar reasons it’s sometimes used in astronomy to calibrate spectral lines.
References:
“Neodymium.” Chemicool Periodic Table. Chemicool.com, 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 July
2016.
“Neodymium.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.
“Facts About Neodymium.” Livescience. Livescience.com, 21 June 2013. Web. 26 July 2016.
“Neodymium Facts.” Softschools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.