66

Dy

Dysprosium
162.500 (1)
 Historical Information

A lttle dysprosium oxide was identified in 1886 by Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran as an impurity in erbia (erbium oxide), but the element itself not isolated at that time. Neither the oxide nor the metal was available in relatively pure form until the 1950s following the development of ion-exchange separation and metallographic reduction techniques.
Basic Information Shells
  • Name:Dysprosium
  • Symbol: Dy
  • Atomic number: 66
  • Atomic weight:162.500 (1)
  • Standard state: solid at 298 K
  • Group in periodic table:
  • Group name:Lanthanoid
  • Period in periodic table: 6
  • Block in periodic table: f-block
  • Classification: Metallic
 Dysprosium
Uses Trivia
  • dysprosium-cadmium chalcogenides are sources of infrared radiation and are used for studying chemical reactions
  • CD disks

The metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife and can be machined without sparking if overheating is avoided. It is a rare earth metal found in minerals such as xenotime, monazite and bastnaesite.