Element, Essay Example

Cerium was discovered in 1803 and named after the dwarf planet Ceres, which was discovered in 1801.  It is known by the symbol “CE” and has an atomic number of 58.  Generally speaking, it is a soft, silvery, and ductile metal which oxidizes in the air easily.  Of the rare earth elements, it is the most abundant and can be found in 0.0046% of the Earth’s crust, in terms of weight.  It has a number of commercial applications and can be found in minerals such as bastnasite and monazite.

Physical and Chemical Structure

Cerium is soft and resembles iron in color and luster.  Belonging to the lanthanide group, it is a metal which is silvery as stated earlier.  One aspect of Cerium that is interesting is in that of its electronic structure.  The valence electrons are nearly the same as the energy of the inner 4f level, where a small amount of energy is required to change relative occupancy.  Thus, dual valency can be seen.

Chemically Cerium burns readily at 150 degrees Celsius.  It also tarnishes slowly in air.  It can form cerium hydroxide quickly with hot water and is slow to react with cold water, as it is rather electropositive.  It reacts will all of the halogens and can dissolve in dilute sulfuric acid to form solutions which contain colorless Ce(III) ions.

Compounds and Isotopes

Cerium has three oxidation states.  They vary in regards to them being strong or weak as a base, as well as other properties.  There are four stable isotopes seen in naturally-occurring Cerium.  The known isotopes range from 123 u to 152 u in atomic weight

Works Cited

R. Hammond. The Elements, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 81^st edition. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC press, 2000. Print.

Patnaik, Pradyot. Handbook of Inorganic Chemical Compounds. New Yok, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print.