Dysprosium (Dy)

Dysprosium is a rare-earth element that has a metallic, bright silver luster.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered dysprosium in 1886, naming it from the Greek for 'hard to get' after some thirty attempts to isolate it.
• It has one of the highest magnetic moments of any element and keeps neodymium magnets coercive at elevated temperatures.
• Dysprosium is added to the magnets of electric-vehicle motors and wind turbines and forms neutron-absorbing control rods as dysprosium titanate.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 66
• SYMBOL: Dy
• CATEGORY: Lanthanide
• ATOMIC MASS: 162.5 u
• ELECTRONEGATIVITY: 1.22 Pauling
• ATOMIC RADIUS: 229 pm
• IONIZATION ENERGY: 5.939 eV
• MELTING POINT: 1685 K
• BOILING POINT: 2840 K
• DENSITY: 8.55 g/cm³
• ELECTRON CONFIGURATION: [Xe]6s2 4f10
• OXIDATION STATES: +3
• STANDARD STATE: Solid
• GROUP BLOCK: Lanthanide
• YEAR DISCOVERED: 1886