Lutetium physical properties

Ionic radius I n1 II.S48 A. Metallic ratlins 1.715 A. Olher important physical properties of lutetium arc given under Rare-Earth Elements and Metals. 

Rare Earth elements (REEs) elements that occur in the periodic table from lanthanum (La) to lutetium (Lu)—have similar chemical and physical properties due to their electronic configurations. 

According to Bohr s opinion, the rare-earth group consisted of elements where the four-quantum level was gradually filled up from 18 to 32 electrons. The number of electrons in the five- and six-quantum levels on the other hand remained imchanged. Bohr s quantum theory thus served as a useful explanation for the pronoimced similarity between the chemical and physical properties of the rare-earth elements. He mentioned that their mutual similarity must be ascribed to the fact that we have here to do with the development of an electron group that lies deeper in the atom. He moreover emphasized that lutetium (Z = 71) had to be considered the last rare-earth element. Element 72 on the other hand did not belong to... 

Lanthanide elements (referred to as Ln) have atomic numbers that range from 57 to 71. They are lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu). With the inclusion of scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y), which are in the same subgroup, this total of 17 elements are referred to as the rare earth elements (RE). They are similar in some aspects but very different in many others. Based on the electronic configuration of the rare earth elements, in this chapter we will discuss the lanthanide contraction phenomenon and the consequential effects on the chemical and physical properties of these elements. The coordination chemistry of lanthanide complexes containing small inorganic ligands is also briefly introduced here [1-5]. 

The elements with atomic numbers from 57 (l thanum) to 71 (lutetium) are referred to as the lanthanide elements. These elements and two others, scandium and yttrium, exhibit chemical and physical properties very similar to lanthanum. They are known as the rare earth elements or rare earths (RE). Such similarity of the RE elements is due to the configuration of their outer electron shells. It is well known that the chemical and physical properties of an element depend primarily on the structure of its outermost electron shells. For RE elements with increasing atomic number, the first electron orbit beyond the closed [Xe] shell (65 remains essentially in place while electrons are added to the inner 4f orbital. Such disposition of electrons about the nucleus of the rare earth atoms is responsible for the small effect an atomic number increase from 57 to 71 has on the physical and chemical properties of the rare earths. Their assignment to the 4f orbital leads to slow contraction of rare earth size with increasing atomic number. The 4f orbitals of both europium and gadolinium are half occupied [Xe] (4F6s and [Xe] (4F5d 6s, so that there... 

The materials derived from YBa2Cu307 by replacing yttrium with other rare earth elements (lutetium, ytterbium, thulium, erbium, hohnium, dysprosium, gadolinium, europium, samarium, neodymium, lanthanum) are also superconductors, with r, s of 88 to 96 K. The crystal structures of RBa2Cu307 are almost the same as those of YBa2Cu307. The lattice constant is slightly different for the different ionic radii of the rare earth elements, and yet their chemical and physical properties are almost the same as those of YBa2Cu307. 

A recently introduced detector, yttrium-activated lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO), has the physical properties similar to LSO and has been used in PET scanners by a commercial vendor. 

Abstract This chapter discusses the chemical and physical properties of the lanthanides, some of which are in a certain way peculiar. It discusses the oxidation states of the REE, and the phenomenon called the lanthanide contraction (meaning that the atomic radius decreases with increasing atomic number in the series lanthanum-lutetium). It lists the isotopes known per element, and explains the radioactivity of promethium, the only element of the rare earths that has only radioactive isotopes and no stable isotopes. Magnetism and luminescence also are discussed. 

Lutetium metal is trivalent, hexagonal close-packed, and has a full 4f shell which makes it non-magnetic. Furthermore, since its physical properties otherwise resemble the heavy lanthanides from Gd to Tm, non-magnetic Lu has often... 

THE RARE EARTH elements are those from atomic numbers 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium) inclusive and elements 21 (scandium) and 39 (yttrium). They represent the largest group of chemically similar elements, but their physical properties differ markedly due to subtle features of electronic structure. Because of the similarity between... 

Since scandium is one of the nomnagnetic elements among the rare-earth series one might expect that the physical properties of compounds with scandium and the other nonmagnetic rare-earth elements (Y, La or Lu) are the same or at least very similar. This supposition is true in principle, however because of the much smaller atomic size of scandium compared with yttrium and also lutetium a deviating physical behaviour of the corresponding scandium compounds is frequently observable. 

The next step in the development of the periodic table was completed in the early 1900s. It was then that the puzzling chemistry of the lanthanides was finally understood. The lanthanides are the 14 elements with atomic numbers from 58 (cerium, Ce) to 71 (lutetium, Lu). Because these elements are so similar in chemical and physical properties, the process of separating and identifying them was a tedious task that required the effort of many chemists. 

The elements in the group III B scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and actinium that have an incompletely filled d subshell in their atomic state (n - l)d ns. Although both lanthanum and actinium could be included in the d transition metal series, they are very similar physically and chemically to the elements in the f-block and therefore are considered to be f-type transition elements (4f-, 5f-type transition elements, respectively). The last element of the lanthanides series, lutetium, also has a partly filled d orbital (Table 2.6) and could also be included in the d transition metal group. However, it has similar properties to the 4f-type transition metals, where it is usually grouped with lanthanum and the rest of the lanthanides series. 

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