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The lanthanides obey the Oddo–Harkins rule – odd-numbered elements are less abundant than their even-numbered neighbors. Three of the lanthanide elements have radioactive isotopes with long half-lives (138 La, 147 Sm and 176 Lu) that can be used to date minerals and rocks from Earth, the Moon and meteorites. [88]
Lanthanide metals react exothermically with hydrogen to form LnH 2, dihydrides. [1] With the exception of Eu and Yb, which resemble the Ba and Ca hydrides (non-conducting, transparent salt-like compounds),they form black pyrophoric, conducting compounds [6] where the metal sub-lattice is face centred cubic and the H atoms occupy tetrahedral sites. [1]
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), [1] are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare ...
The lanthanides are the 15 rare-earth chemical elements which lie between lanthanum and lutetium on the periodic table. The lanthanides are trivalent metals . Subcategories
The lanthanide contraction is the greater-than-expected decrease in atomic radii and ionic radii of the elements in the lanthanide series, from left to right. It is caused by the poor shielding effect of nuclear charge by the 4f electrons along with the expected periodic trend of increasing electronegativity and nuclear charge on moving from left to right.
Lanthanide chlorides are a group of chemical compounds that can form between a lanthanide element (from lanthanum to lutetium) and chlorine. The lanthanides in these compounds are usually in the +2 and +3 oxidation states , although compounds with lanthanides in lower oxidation states exist.
The lanthanide ions in these complexes can readily react with oxygen and water, leading to oxidation or hydrolysis, which damages the material’s structure and reduces its efficiency. This makes handling and storage difficult, requiring protective environments like sealed containers or inert gas atmospheres.
Lanthanum, like the other lanthanides, is known to affect human metabolism, lowering cholesterol levels, blood pressure, appetite, and risk of blood coagulation. When injected into the brain, it acts as a painkiller, similarly to morphine and other opiates, though the mechanism behind this is still unknown. [ 80 ]