Samarium (Sm)

Samarium is a moderately hard silvery metal that slowly oxidizes in air.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran isolated samarium in 1879 from the mineral samarskite, indirectly making it the first element named after a person.
• Samarium-cobalt magnets keep their magnetism at temperatures where neodymium magnets fail, remaining useful past 300 degrees Celsius.
• It serves in high-temperature aerospace magnets, and samarium-153 lexidronam relieves pain from cancer that has spread to bone.

Specifications & Metrics

• NUM: 62
• SYMBOL: Sm
• CATEGORY: Lanthanide