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atomic number 21 is a silverish alloy that is cushy and has a tightness of about three times that of body of water . atomic number 21 is a transition metal and is also considered a rare world element due to similar chemical properties ( such as trouble in extracting and in separating from other ingredient ) and universe in the same ore , according toChemicool .
Scandium is the 31stmost abundant element on Earth , according toPeriodic Table , with about 22 parts per million abundance by free weight in Earth ’s crust , according toChemicool .
Scandium is a relatively soft, silver-white metal.
Scandium is scatter thinly and has been found in over 800 mineral . Within these minerals , scandium is establish in its oxide form ( Sc2O3 , also hump as scandia or atomic number 21 oxide ) , harmonise toScandium Mining . There are many commercial uses for atomic number 21 even though the monetary value of Sc is typically high – several thousand dollar per kg for scandium oxide and up to a few hundred thousand dollar sign per kilo for complete Sc , concord toChemistry Explained .
Just the Facts
History
Russian apothecary Dmitri Mendeleev , inventor of the periodic table , prognosticate the macrocosm and properties of Sc ( which he ring " ekaboron " — similar to boron ) in 1869 , according to theNew World Encyclopedia . Lars Fredrick Nilson , a Swedish chemist , when examining the spectrum of the minerals euxenite and gadolinite , unwrap the element in 1879 . The constituent was name for the Romance Good Book for Scandinavia , " Scandia , " due to the minerals in which Sc was at that time found to exist only in the Scandinavian Peninsula , according toPeter van der Krogt , a Dutch historian . Per Teodor Cleve , a Swedish pharmacist , made the link that the Modern element discovered by Nilson was the same as the proposed element described by Mendeleev .
In the first effort to isolate scandium , Nilson and his squad work 10 kilogram of euxenite and were capable to produce about two Hans C. J. Gram of Sc oxide . grant to theNew World Encyclopedia , metallic atomic number 21 was n’t bring on for the first time until 1937 by Werner Fischer , Karl Brünger , and Hans Grienseisen , German chemists . In 1960 , 99 percent arrant scandium was produce .
Who knew?
Current research
The bulk of inquiry regard scandium is the role of scandium alloys , particularly with atomic number 13 . Most of these studies discuss the benefits of blend scandium with other metallic element and what alloys will possibly be used for . There are new methods in working with the alloys , such as apatentfiled in 1997 by William Tack , an American artificer , and carry on studies on recovering scandium from various resource , such as thisstudyby Weiwei Wang et al . , a group of Australian investigator , published in 2010 inElsevierin the Hydrometallurgy section .
Tack ’s letters patent described a method for using atomic number 13 - scandium alloy to assemble structures such as bicycle frames by use of welding . The alloys that were used contain various sum of Sc along with other " fillers " including Si , manganese , magnesium , zirconium , Ti , and copper to square up the full combination of material for various construction using the author ’s welding technique .
The 2010 study described several processes for the convalescence of scandium from several imagination . Scandium is primarily recovered as a by - product of mine other ore such as uranium , Al , Ti , zirconium , and other rarified - ground ores . Various proficiency are used to recover the scandium in the left over ore includingleaching , solvent descent , precipitation , andcalcination .
Adissertation studypublished in 2016 by Claire Parker , an ocean sciences student in California , hash out the importance of Sc in the ocean . Trace metals are essential micronutrients in the wellness of the ocean environs , and while iron is the most hit the books , scandium has been one of the least study trace element that are discover in the ocean . There are no known biological roles for scandium . Therefore , harmonise to the writer , the scandium dissolved in the ocean could interrelate to the non - nutritive side of the oceanic iron cycle .
Based on several discipline and talk over in the thesis , dissolve atomic number 21 and iron in the sea have similar statistical distribution , concentrations and reactivity ( base on a similar inorganic compound ) . The author concludes that studying both Fe and Sc and their attribute within the ocean can provide " new sixth sense into physical , chemical substance , and biological process occurring in the sea . "
Additional resources
