Terbium

Description

A soft, silvery gray metallic element. Terbium is a rare earth element was first identifies by C.G. Mosander in 1843. It has an abundance of 0.9 ppm in the earth's crust and occurs in apatite, monazite, cerite, gadolinite, and xenotime. Terbium is obtained as a byproduct in the processing of yttrium. It oxidizes readily in moist air and bust be handled and stored in an inert atmosphere. Metallic terbium is rarely used, but its salts have several applications . Terbium phosphate produce green phosphors for television tubes. Terbium oxide is used as a stain for ceramics. It also makes a colorless glass that has a strong blue-green fluorescence in ultraviolet light.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Tb

Risks

• Sensitive to air and moisture.
• Contact may cause irritation.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

Composition	Tb (atomic no. 65)
CAS	7440-27-9
Melting Point	1356 C
Density	8.27-8.33 g/ml
Molecular Weight	atomic wt = 158.9254
Boiling Point	2480-3540 C

Resources and Citations

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 9300

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998