Yttrium
Element 39 · Transition Metal
Yttrium is a silvery, moderately soft transition metal that leads group 3 of the periodic table. A thin oxide layer keeps it stable in air, and it almost always appears in the +3 oxidation state, behaving much like the lanthanides it is mined alongside. Yttrium's fame comes from light and magnetism: yttrium oxide doped with europium produces the red phosphors in LEDs and displays, yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystals power surgical and industrial lasers, and the ceramic YBCO was the first material found to superconduct above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.
Key facts
| Atomic number | 39 |
|---|---|
| Atomic weight | 88.906 |
| Category | Transition Metal |
| Group / Period | 3 / 5 |
| Block | d |
| Electron configuration | [Kr] 4d1 5s2 |
| Common oxidation states | +3 |
| State at STP | Solid |
| Electronegativity | 1.22 |
| Atomic radius | 180 pm (empirical) |
| Density | 4.472 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 1526 °C |
| Boiling point | 3345 °C |
Occurrence
Yttrium never occurs as a free metal and is always found mixed with lanthanide elements in minerals such as monazite, bastnäsite, and xenotime. Commercial supplies are separated from these rare-earth ores.
Applications
Red phosphors in LEDs and displays
YAG lasers for medicine and industry
YBCO high-temperature superconductors
Camera and telescope lenses
Common compounds
- Yttrium oxide
- Yttrium aluminium garnet
- Yttrium barium copper oxide
Yttrium is one of four elements named after Ytterby, a small Swedish village — its quarry also gave its name to terbium, erbium, and ytterbium.
Data source: IUPAC standard atomic weights 2021; NIST physical property data