Scandium

Description

A rare earth metallic element. Scandium was predicted by Mendeleev in 1869 and given the name ekaboron, but not discovered until 1879 by Lars Fredrik Nilson of Sweden. It has an abundance of 5-25 ppm in the earth's crust. Scandium occurs in the mineral thortveitite and in wolframite, davidite, ytterbite, orthite, and cerrite. It is a silvery white metal that does not tarnish in air. Scandium currently does not have any major uses.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Sc; ekaboron; scandio (It.); Escândio (Port.); escandio (Esp.); Skandium (Sven.)

Risks

• Flammable solid.
• May explode when exposed to heat.
• Contact may cause irritation.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Hexagonal close packed crystal system.
• Reacts with acids

Composition	Sc (atomic no. 21)
CAS	7440-20-2
Melting Point	1539-1541 C
Density	2.9890 g/ml
Molecular Weight	atomic wt = 44.9559
Boiling Point	2727-2836 C

Resources and Citations

• Web Elements: Website

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 179

• 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 8537

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