The lanthanide or lanthanoid (IUPAC nomenclature) series comprises the fifteen metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum through lutetium.
These fifteen lanthanide elements, along with the chemically similar elements scandium and yttrium, are often collectively known as the rare earth elements.
The informal chemical symbol Ln is used in general discussions of lanthanide chemistry to refer to any lanthanide. All but one of the lanthanides are f-block elements, corresponding to the filling of the 4f electron shell; lutetium, a d-block element, is also generally considered to be a lanthanide due to its chemical similarities with the other fourteen. All lanthanide elements form trivalent cations, Ln3+, whose chemistry is largely determined by the ionic radius, which decreases steadily from lanthanum to lutetium.
| Chemical element | La | Ce | Pr | Nd | Pm | Sm | Eu | Gd | Tb | Dy | Ho | Er | Tm | Yb | Lu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic number | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 |
| Image | |||||||||||||||
| Density (g/cm3) | 6.162 | 6.770 | 6.77 | 7.01 | 7.26 | 7.52 | 5.244 | 7.90 | 8.23 | 8.540 | 8.79 | 9.066 | 9.32 | 6.90 | 9.841 |
| Melting point (°C) | 920 | 795 | 935 | 1024 | 1042 | 1072 | 826 | 1312 | 1356 | 1407 | 1461 | 1529 | 1545 | 824 | 1652 |
| Atomic electron configuration* | 5d1 | 4f15d1 | 4f3 | 4f4 | 4f5 | 4f6 | 4f7 | 4f75d1 | 4f9 | 4f10 | 4f11 | 4f12 | 4f13 | 4f14 | 4f145d1 |
| Ln3+ electron configuration* | 4f0 | 4f1 | 4f2 | 4f3 | 4f4 | 4f5 | 4f6 | 4f7 | 4f8 | 4f9 | 4f10 | 4f11 | 4f12 | 4f13 |
4f14 |
| Ln3+ radius (pm) | 103 | 102 | 99 | 98.3 | 97 | 95.8 | 94.7 | 93.8 | 92.3 | 91.2 | 90.1 | 89 | 88 | 86.8 | 86.1 |
* Between initial and final 6s2 electronic shells
The lanthanide elements are the group of elements with atomic number increasing from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium). They are termed lanthanide because the lighter elements in the series are chemically similar to lanthanum. Strictly speaking, both lanthanum and lutetium have been labeled as group 3 elements, because they both have a single valence electron in the d shell. However, both elements are often included in any general discussion of the chemistry of the lanthanide elements.
In presentations of the periodic table, the lanthanides and the actinides are customarily shown as two additional rows below the main body of the table, with placeholders or else a selected single element of each series (either lanthanum or lutetium, and either actinium or lawrencium, respectively) shown in a single cell of the main table, between barium and hafnium, and radium and rutherfordium, respectively. This convention is entirely a matter of aesthetics and formatting practicality; a rarely used wide-formatted periodic table inserts the lanthanide and actinide series in their proper places, as parts of the table's sixth and seventh rows (periods).
Read more about Lanthanide: Etymology, Chemistry and Compounds, Occurrence, Applications, Biological Effects