Yttrium is a chemical element; it has symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a rare-earth eleme
Yttrium sublimed dendritic and 1cm 3 cube
Left: Soluble yttrium salts reacts with carbonate, forming white precipitate yttrium carbonate. Right: Yttrium carbonate is soluble in excess alkali metal carbonate solution.
Mira is an example of the type of red giant star in which most of the yttrium in the solar system was created.
The rare-earth elements, also called rare-earth metals, or rare earths, are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. The 15 lanthanides, along with scandium, and
Yttrium
…has symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a rare-earth element. Yttrium is almost always found in combination with lanthanide elements in rare-earth minerals and is never found in nature as a free element. 89Y is…
Rare-earth ore (shown with a 19 mm diameter US 1 cent coin for size comparison)
Refined rare-earth oxides are heavy, gritty powders usually brown or black, but can be lighter colors as shown here. Back row: gadolinium · praseodymium · cerium Middle row: samarium · lanthanum Front: neodymium