Ytterbium

Ytterbium, ₇₀Yb

Ytterbium
Pronunciation	/ɪˈtɜːrbiəm/ ​(ih-TUR-bee-əm)
Appearance	silvery white; with a pale yellow tint[1]
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Yb)
	173.045±0.010[2] 173.05±0.02 (abridged)[3]
Ytterbium in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson – ↑ Yb ↓ No thulium ← ytterbium → lutetium
Atomic number (Z)	70
Group	f-block groups (no number)
Period	period 6
Block	f-block
Electron configuration	[Xe] 4f14 6s2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 8, 2
Physical properties
Phase at STP	solid
Melting point	1097 K ​(824 °C, ​1515 °F)
Boiling point	1469 K ​(1196 °C, ​2185 °F)
Density (at 20° C)	6.967 g/cm3 [4]
when liquid (at m.p.)	6.21 g/cm3
Heat of fusion	7.66 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization	129 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity	26.74 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T (K) 736 813 910 1047 (1266) (1465)
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	common: +3 0,[5] +1,[6] +2[7]
Electronegativity	Pauling scale: 1.1 (?)
Ionization energies	1st: 603.4 kJ/mol 2nd: 1174.8 kJ/mol 3rd: 2417 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	empirical: 176 pm
Covalent radius	187±8 pm
Spectral lines of ytterbium
Other properties
Natural occurrence	primordial
Crystal structure	​face-centered cubic (fcc) (cF4)
Lattice constants	a = 548.46 pm (at 20 °C)[4]
Thermal expansion	24.31×10−6/K (at 20 °C)[4]
Thermal conductivity	38.5 W/(m⋅K)
Electrical resistivity	β, poly: 0.250 µΩ⋅m (at r.t.)
Magnetic ordering	paramagnetic
Molar magnetic susceptibility	+249.0×10−6 cm3/mol (2928 K)[8]
Young's modulus	β form: 23.9 GPa
Shear modulus	β form: 9.9 GPa
Bulk modulus	β form: 30.5 GPa
Speed of sound thin rod	1590 m/s (at 20 °C)
Poisson ratio	β form: 0.207
Vickers hardness	205–250 MPa
Brinell hardness	340–440 MPa
CAS Number	7440-64-4
History
Naming	after Ytterby (Sweden), where it was mined
Discovery	Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac (1878)
First isolation	Carl Auer von Welsbach (1906)
Isotopes of ytterbium v e
Main isotopes[9] Decay abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct 166Yb synth 56.7 h ε 166Tm 168Yb 0.126% stable 169Yb synth 32.026 d ε 169Tm 170Yb 3.02% stable 171Yb 14.2% stable 172Yb 21.8% stable 173Yb 16.1% stable 174Yb 31.9% stable 175Yb synth 4.185 d β− 175Lu 176Yb 12.9% stable 177Yb synth 1.911 h β− 177Lu
Category: Ytterbium view talk edit | references

Ytterbium is a chemical element; it has symbol Yb and atomic number 70. It is a metal, the fourteenth and penultimate element in the lanthanide series, which is the basis of the relative stability of its +2 oxidation state. Like the other lanthanides, its most common oxidation state is +3, as in its oxide, halides, and other compounds. In aqueous solution, like compounds of other late lanthanides, soluble ytterbium compounds form complexes with nine water molecules. Because of its closed-shell electron configuration, its density, melting point and boiling point are much lower than those of most other lanthanides.

In 1878, Swiss chemist Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac separated from the rare earth "erbia" (another independent component) which he called "ytterbia", for Ytterby, the village in Sweden near where he found the new component of erbium. He suspected that ytterbia was a compound of a new element that he called "ytterbium". (In total, four elements were named after the village, the others being yttrium, terbium, and erbium.) In 1907, the new earth "lutecia" was separated from ytterbia, from which the element "lutecium" (now lutetium) was extracted by Georges Urbain, Carl Auer von Welsbach, and Charles James. After some discussion, Marignac's name "ytterbium" was retained. A relatively pure sample of the metal was not obtained until 1953. At present, ytterbium is mainly used as a dopant of stainless steel or active laser media, and less often as a gamma ray source.

Natural ytterbium is a mixture of seven stable isotopes, which altogether are present at concentrations of 0.3 parts per million. This element is mined in China, the United States, Brazil, and India in form of the minerals monazite, euxenite, and xenotime. The ytterbium concentration is low because it is found only among many other rare-earth elements; moreover, it is among the least abundant. Once extracted and prepared, ytterbium is somewhat hazardous as an eye and skin irritant. The metal is a fire and explosion hazard.