NEODYMIUM (Nd) • Element 60 • Physical Properties/Chemical Properties • Description • Uses/Function • Isotopes • Thermochemistry • Reactions • Electron Configuration and Bonding • Video

NEODYMIUM

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Introduction

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Atomic Number:	60	Group:	None	60	144.24
Atomic Weight:	144.24	Period:	6	Nd
		CAS Number:	7440-00-8	Nd
				NEODYMIUM

Classification

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Description

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In 1841, Mosander, extracted from cerite a new rose-colored oxide, which he believed contained a new element. He named the element didymium,as it was an inseparable twin brother of lanthanum. In 1885 von Welsbach separated didymium into two new elemental components, neodymia andpraseodymia, by repeated fractionation of ammonium didymium nitrate. While the free metal is in misch metal, long known and used as a pyrophoricalloy for light flints, the element was not isolated in relatively pure form until 1925. Neodymium is present in misch metal to the extent of about 18%.It is present in the minerals monazite and bastnasite, which are principal sources of rare-earth metals. The element may be obtained by separatingneodymium salts from other rare earths by ion-exchange or solvent extraction techniques, and by reducing anhydrous halides such as Ndf³ with calciummetal. Other separation techniques are possible. The metal has a bright silvery metallic luster. Neodymium is one of the more reactive rare-earth metalsand quickly tarnishes in air, forming an oxide that spalls off and exposes metal to oxidation. The metal, therefore, should be kept under light mineral oil or sealed in a plastic material. Neodymium exists in two allotropic forms, with a transformation from a double hexagonal to a body-centered cubicstructure taking place at 863°C. Natural neodymium is a mixture of seven isotopes, one of which has a very long half-life. Twenty seven otherradioactive isotopes and isomers are recognized. Didymium, of which neodymium is a component, is used for coloring glass to make welder’s goggles.By itself, neodymium colors glass delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. Light transmitted through such glassshows unusually sharp absorption bands. The glass has been used in astronomical work to produce sharp bands by which spectral lines may becalibrated. Glass containing neodymium can be used as a laser material to produce coherent light. Neodymium salts are also used as a colorant forenamels. The element is also being used with iron and boron to produce extremely strong magnets having energy densities as high as 27 to 35 milliongauss oersteds. These are the most compact magnets commercially available. The price of the metal is about $2/g. Neodymium has a low-to-moderateacute toxic rating. As with other rare earths, neodymium should be handled with care. ¹

Uses/Function

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"the magnet in a large wind turbine may contain 500 pounds or more of neodymium." ²
"A neodymium-based magnet is many times stronger than a conventional ferrite magnet of the same size" ³
"Hybrid cars would not exist without rare earth elements...neodymium magnets for their electric motors." ⁴
"tint[s] sunglasses." ⁵
"Some power tools rely on neodymium...magnets to shrink their motors." ⁶

Physical Properties

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Melting Point:⁷*	1021 °C = 1294.15 K = 1869.8 °F	Boiling Point:⁷*	3074 °C = 3347.15 K = 5565.2 °F
Sublimation Point:⁷		Triple Point:⁷
Critical Point:⁷

Density:⁸	7.01 g/cm³

* - at 1 atm

Electron Configuration and Bonding

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Electron Configuration: *	[Xe] 6s² 4f⁴				Lewis Dot Diagram
	* Exception to the Aufbau principle					x
Block:	f					Nd	x
Highest Occupied Energy Level:	6					Nd
Valence Electrons:	2
Quantum Numbers:	n = 4	ℓ = 3	m_ℓ = 0	m_s = +½

The information in this section can be derived from the periodic table. Lewis dot diagrams and valence electrons are not useful for transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides. Only the valence electrons are shown for these elements. Quantum numbers are given for the final electron.

Electronegativity (Pauling scale):⁹		1.14		Electropositivity (Pauling scale):		2.86
Work Function:¹⁰		3.1 eV = 4.9662E-19 J

Ionization Potential	eV ¹¹		kJ/mol	Ionization Potential	eV ¹¹		kJ/mol
1	5.525		533.1	3	22.1		2132.3
2	10.73		1035.3	4	40.41		3899.0

Thermochemistry

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Specific Heat:		0.190 J/g°C ¹² = 27.406 J/mol°C = 0.045 cal/g°C = 6.550 cal/mol°C
Thermal Conductivity:		16.5 (W/m)/K, 27ºC ¹³
Heat of Fusion:		7.14 kJ/mol ¹⁴ = 49.5 J/g
Heat of Vaporization:		273 kJ/mol ¹⁵ = 1892.7 J/g

State of Matter	Enthalpy of Formation¹⁶		Entropy¹⁶		Gibbs Free Energy¹⁶
	(kcal/mol)	(kJ/mol)	(cal/K)	(J/K)	(kcal/mol)	(kJ/mol)
(s)	0	0	17.1	71.5464	0	0
(g)	78.3	327.6072	45.24	189.28416	69.9	292.4616

Isotopes

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Nuclide	Mass ¹⁷	Half-Life ¹⁷	Nuclear Spin ¹⁷	Binding Energy
¹²⁴Nd	123.95223(64)#	500# ms	0+	981.02 MeV
¹²⁵Nd	124.94888(43)#	600(150) ms	5/2(+#)	998.41 MeV
¹²⁶Nd	125.94322(43)#	1# s [>200 ns]	0+	1,006.49 MeV
¹²⁷Nd	126.94050(43)#	1.8(4) s	5/2+#	1,014.57 MeV
¹²⁸Nd	127.93539(21)#	5# s	0+	1,031.97 MeV
¹²⁹Nd	128.93319(22)#	4.9(2) s	5/2+#	1,040.04 MeV
¹³⁰Nd	129.92851(3)	21(3) s	0+	1,057.44 MeV
¹³¹Nd	130.92725(3)	33(3) s	(5/2)(+#)	1,065.52 MeV
¹³²Nd	131.923321(26)	1.56(10) min	0+	1,073.60 MeV
¹³³Nd	132.92235(5)	70(10) s	(7/2+)	1,081.67 MeV
¹³⁴Nd	133.918790(13)	8.5(15) min	0+	1,099.07 MeV
¹³⁵Nd	134.918181(21)	12.4(6) min	9/2(-)	1,107.15 MeV
¹³⁶Nd	135.914976(13)	50.65(33) min	0+	1,115.23 MeV
¹³⁷Nd	136.914567(12)	38.5(15) min	1/2+	1,123.31 MeV
¹³⁸Nd	137.911950(13)	5.04(9) h	0+	1,131.38 MeV
¹³⁹Nd	138.911978(28)	29.7(5) min	3/2+	1,139.46 MeV
¹⁴⁰Nd	139.90955(3)	3.37(2) d	0+	1,156.86 MeV
¹⁴¹Nd	140.909610(4)	2.49(3) h	3/2+	1,164.94 MeV
¹⁴²Nd	141.9077233(25)	STABLE	0+	1,173.02 MeV
¹⁴³Nd	142.9098143(25)	STABLE	7/2-	1,181.09 MeV
¹⁴⁴Nd	143.9100873(25)	2.29(16)E+15 a	0+	1,179.86 MeV
¹⁴⁵Nd	144.9125736(25)	STABLE	7/2-	1,187.94 MeV
¹⁴⁶Nd	145.9131169(25)	STABLE	0+	1,196.01 MeV
¹⁴⁷Nd	146.9161004(25)	10.98(1) d	5/2-	1,204.09 MeV
¹⁴⁸Nd	147.916893(3)	STABLE	0+	1,212.17 MeV
¹⁴⁹Nd	148.920149(3)	1.728(1) h	5/2-	1,210.93 MeV
¹⁵⁰Nd	149.920891(3)	6.7(7)E+18 a	0+	1,219.01 MeV
¹⁵¹Nd	150.923829(3)	12.44(7) min	3/2+	1,227.09 MeV
¹⁵²Nd	151.924682(26)	11.4(2) min	0+	1,235.17 MeV
¹⁵³Nd	152.927698(29)	31.6(10) s	(3/2)-	1,243.25 MeV
¹⁵⁴Nd	153.92948(12)	25.9(2) s	0+	1,251.33 MeV
¹⁵⁵Nd	154.93293(16)#	8.9(2) s	3/2-#	1,250.09 MeV
¹⁵⁶Nd	155.93502(22)	5.49(7) s	0+	1,258.17 MeV
¹⁵⁷Nd	156.93903(21)#	2# s [>300 ns]	5/2-#	1,266.25 MeV
¹⁵⁸Nd	157.94160(43)#	700# ms [>300 ns]	0+	1,265.01 MeV
¹⁵⁹Nd	158.94609(54)#	500# ms	7/2+#	1,273.09 MeV
¹⁶⁰Nd	159.94909(64)#	300# ms	0+	1,281.17 MeV
¹⁶¹Nd	160.95388(75)#	200# ms	1/2-#	1,279.93 MeV
Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses. ¹⁷

Reactions

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Abundance

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Earth:	Source Compounds:	phosphates ¹⁸
Earth:	Seawater:	0.0000028 mg/L ¹⁹
Earth:	Crust:	41.5 mg/kg = 0.00415% ¹⁹
Earth:	Total:	690 ppb ²⁰
Mercury:	Total:	530 ppb ²⁰
Venus:	Total:	723 ppb ²⁰
Chondrites:	Total:	0.64 (relative to 10⁶ atoms of Si) ²¹

Compounds

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neodymium(II) bromide	neodymium(III) bromide	neodymium(III) nitride
neodymium(II) chloride	neodymium(III) chloride	neodymium(III) oxide
neodymium(II) iodide	neodymium(III) fluoride	neodymium(III) sulfide
neodymium(II) selenide	neodymium(III) formate	neodymium(III) telluride
neodymium(II) sulfide	neodymium(III) gallate	neodymium(III) vanadate
neodymium(II) telluride	neodymium(III) iodide

Material Safety Data Sheet

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ACI Alloys, Inc.

Languages

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Afrikaans:	Neodimium	Albanian:	Neodim	Armenian:	Նեոդիում	Arabic:	نيوديميوم
Aromanian:	Neodimiumu	Basque:	Neodimioa	Bosnian:	Neodimij	Breton:	Neodim
Bulgarian:	Ниодим	Belarusian:	Неадым	Catalan :	Neodimi	Chinese :	钕
Cornish :	Neodymyum	Croatian :	Neodimij	Czech :	Neodym	Danish:	Neodym
Dutch:	Neodymium	Esperanto:	Neodimo	Estonian:	Neodüüm	Faroese:	Neodym
Finnish:	Neodyymi	French:	Néodyme	Friulan:	Neodimi	Frisian:	Neodymium
Galician:	Neodimio	Georgian:	ნეოდიმი	German:	Neodym	Greek:	Νεοδυμιο
Hebrew:	ניאודימיום	Hungarian:	Neodimium	Icelandic:	Neodým	Irish Gaelic:	Neoidimiam
Italian:	Neodimio	Japanese:	ネオジム	Kashubian:	Neòdim	Kazakh:	Неодим
Korean:	네오디뮴	Latvian:	Neodims	Lithuanian:	Neodimis	Luxembourgish:	Neodym
Macedonian:	Неодиумиум	Malay:	Neodimium	Maltese :	Neodimjum	Manx Gaelic:	Neodimmium
Moksha:	Нодими	Mongolian:	Неодим	Norwegian:	Neodym	Occitan:	Neodimi
Ossetian:	Неодим	Polish:	Neodym	Portuguese:	Neodímio	Russian:	Ниодимий, Неодим
Scottish Gaelic:	Neoidimiam	Serbian:	Неодиjум	Slovak:	Neodym	Spanish:	Neodimio
Sudovian:	Neadimis	Swahili:	Neodimi	Swedish:	Neodym	Tajik:	Neodim
Thai:	นีโอดิเมียม	Turkish:	Neodim	Ukranian:	Неодим	Uzbek:	Неодим
Vietnamese:	Neodim	Welsh:	Neodymiwm

For More Information

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External Links:
About.com	American Elements
Chemical & Engineering News	Chemical Elements
ChemGlobe	Chemicool
Environmental Chemistry	Eni Generalic
HyperPhysics from Georgia State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy	InfoPlease
Lenntech	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Physics Department of the University of Coimbra	Qivx Inc.
Royal Society of Chemistry's Visual Elements	Schenectady County Community College
Thomas Jefferson Lab National Accelerator Facility	WebElements
Wikipedia	X-ray properties: Carlo Segre from Illinois Institute of Technology
Magazines:
(1) Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, pp 136-145.

Sources

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(1) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:20.

(2) - Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, p 138.

(3) - Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, p 144.

(4) - Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, p 140.

(5) - Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, p 140.

(6) - Folger, Tim. The Secret Ingredients of Everything. National Geographic, June 2011, p 140.

(7) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:132.

(8) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:39-4:96.

(9) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 11th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1973; p 4:8-4:149.

(10) - Speight, James. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 16th ed.; McGraw-Hill Professional: Boston, MA, 2004; p 1:132.

(11) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 10:178 - 10:180.

(12) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 4:133.

(13) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:193, 12:219-220.

(14) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:123-6:137.

(15) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; pp 6:107-6:122.

(16) - Dean, John A. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, 12th ed.; McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, NY, 1979; p 9:4-9:94.

(17) - Atomic Mass Data Center. http://amdc.in2p3.fr/web/nubase_en.html (accessed July 14, 2009).

(18) - Silberberg, Martin S. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th ed.; McGraw-Hill Higher Education: Boston, MA, 2006, p 965.

(19) - Lide, David R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 83rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2002; p 14:17.

(20) - Morgan, John W. and Anders, Edward, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 6973-6977 (1980)

(21) - Brownlow, Arthur. Geochemistry; Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1979, pp 15-16.

Comments

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NEODYMIUM

Periodic Table

Metal	Nonmetal	Metalloid
Alkali Metal	Alkali Earth Metal	Transition Metal	Chalcogen	Halogen
Noble Gas	Lanthanoid	Actinoid	Rare Earth Metal	Platinum Group Metal
Transuranium	No Stable Isotopes
Solid	Liquid	Gas	Solid (Predicted)

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