Where is scandium found in the world

The blue color of aquamarine gems is due to the presence of scandium. Scandium has only a very few uses, one of which is to make very bright mercury-vapor lamps that produce light that is remarkably similar to natural sunlight, which is important in the use of color television cameras. Scandium is a light metal, with a very high melting point. Consequently, spacecraft designers have expressed an interest in using it as a building material.

It is also used in alkaline batteries. The first pound of pure scandium was not produced until With water animals scandium causes damage to cell membranes, which has several negative influences on reproduction and on the functions of the nervous system. Back to the periodic table of elements. Toggle navigation. Home Periodic table Elements Scandium. About Lenntech. General Delivery Conditions. Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. Atomic number. Scandium Scandium is a soft, silvery transition element which occurs in rare minerals from Scandinavia.

It develops a slightly yellowish or pinkish cast when exposed to air. Scandium tarnished in air and burn easily, once it has been ignited. Scandium is the 31 st most abundant element on Earth, according to Periodic Table , with about 22 parts per million abundance by weight in Earth's crust, according to Chemicool. Scandium is scattered thinly and has been found in over minerals.

Within these minerals, scandium is found in its oxide form Sc 2 O 3 , also known as scandia or scandium oxide , according to Scandium Mining. There are many commercial uses for scandium even though the cost of scandium is typically high — several thousand dollars per kilogram for scandium oxide and up to a few hundred thousand dollars per kilogram for pure scandium, according to Chemistry Explained. Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, inventor of the periodic table, predicted the existence and properties of scandium which he called "ekaboron" — similar to boron in , according to the New World Encyclopedia.

Lars Fredrick Nilson, a Swedish chemist, when examining the spectra of the minerals euxenite and gadolinite, discovered the element in The element was named for the Latin word for Scandinavia, "Scandia," due to the minerals in which scandium was at that time found to exist only in the Scandinavian Peninsula, according to Peter van der Krogt , a Dutch historian.

Per Teodor Cleve, a Swedish chemist, made the link that the new element discovered by Nilson was the same as the proposed element described by Mendeleev. In the first attempt to isolate scandium, Nilson and his team processed 10 kilograms of euxenite and were able to produce about two grams of scandium oxide.