Page 76 - The Periodic Table Book

39
Y Yttrium

39 39 50 State: Solid
Discovery: 1794
Moon rock
Transition Metals times more
Forms
Yttrium
is 400

common in
Earth’s crust
than silver.
Xenotime
This rock sample was brought to
Earth by NASA’s Apollo 16 mission.

This mineral
contains trace Cabbage
amounts of uranium,
which is radioactive.

This silvery
element does not
corrode easily.
Laboratory sample vegetable
This
of pure yttrium
contains
yttrium.

Monazite

This reddish-brown mineral
contains about 2% yttrium.

The samples of rock brought back from the xenotime and monazite. Yttrium was
Moon by astronauts in NASA’s Apollo discovered in a compound in 1794 by the
missions contained higher levels of yttrium Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin, but it wasn’t
than rocks on Earth. This element is never isolated until 1828. Other yttrium compounds
found in pure form in nature, but small traces have since been found in vegetables, including
74 of it are present in many minerals, including cabbage, and in seeds of woody plants. In

074-075_Yttrium.indd 74 12/12/16 5:38 pm