Discovery date : 1885
Discovered by: Carl Auer von Welsbach
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Greek 'neos didymos' meaning new twin.
Allotropes :
~>NEODYMIUM is a chemical element with symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist von Welsbach.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | Lanthanides | Melting point | 1016°C, 1861°F, 1289 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 3074°C, 5565°F, 3347 K |
| Block | f | Density (g cm−3) | 7.01 |
| Atomic number | 60 | Relative atomic mass | 144.242 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 142Nd |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f46s2 | CAS number | 7440-00-8 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22376 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Neodymium was discovered in Vienna in 1885 by Karl Auer. Its story began with the discovery of cerium, from which Carl Gustav Mosander extracted didymium in 1839. This turned out to be a mixture of lanthanoid elements, and in 1879, samarium was extracted from didymium, followed a year later by gadolinium. In 1885, Auer obtained neodymium and praseodymium from didymium, their existence revealed by atomic spectroscopy. Didymium had been studied by Bohuslav Brauner at Prague in 1882 and was shown to vary according to the mineral from which it came. At the time he made his discovery, Auer was a research student of the great German chemist, Robert Bunsen who was the world expert on didymium, but he accepted Auer's discovery immediately, whereas other chemists were to remain sceptical for several years.
A sample of the pure metal was first produced in 1925.