Atomic symbol: La
Atomic number: 57
Atomic weight: 138.9054 g/mol
Isotopes and abundances: 138La 0.09017 %, 139La 99.9098 %
1 Atm melting point: 920.9 °C
1 Atm boiling point: 3456.9 °C
Common valences: +3
Ionic radii: 103 pm
Pauling electronegativity: 1.10
Chondritic (CI) abundance: 0.2446 microg/g
Silicate Earth abundance: 0.648 microg/g
Crustal abundance: 31 microg/g
Seawater abundance: ≈ 30 picomole/kg
Core abundance: unknown
Properties
Lanthanum is a soft and ductile metallic element with a silver-white color that rapidly tarnishes in air. It generally occurs as oxide and hydroxide and in substitution to major elements in minerals.
History and Use
Lanthanum was discovered in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1839 by C.G. Mosander who gave it the name of “latane” [Greek, lanthanein = to lie hidden] because it was “hidden” in cerium carbonate fluoride from the Bastnäs mine (Berzelius, 1839). It was isolated only in 1923, almost 100 years later. Lanthanum gave its name to...
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References
Berzelius, 1839. Latanium – a new metal. Philosophical magazine. Annals of Philosophy and Journal of Science, XIV, 390–391.
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Chauvel, C. (2016). Lanthanum. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_114-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_114-1
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9
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