Praseodymium

Description

A rare earth, metallic element. Praseodymium has an abundance on 6-9 ppm in the earth's crust. It is found in rare earth minerals, i.e. monazite, cerite and allonite. Praseodymium is a soft, yellowish metal that tarnishes readily in moist air to form green salts. Its salts are used as a colorants in glazes and glasses and as a components in phosphors and lasers. A zircon/praseodymium yellow is used as a stable yellow colorant up to 1280 C.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Pr

Risks

• Sensitive to air and moisture.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

Composition	Pr (atomic no. 59)
CAS	7440-10-0
Melting Point	930 C
Density	6.78-6.81 g/ml
Molecular Weight	atomic wt = 140.9077

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 178

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

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 7891

• Robert Fournier, Illustrated Dictionary of Practical Pottery, Chilton Book Company, Radnor, PA, 1992