Definition

Yttrium is a chemical component which has symbol Y. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanoids and has historically been classified as a rare earth element. Yttrium is almost always found mutual with the lanthanoids in rare earth minerals and is never found in nature as a free element.

Properties

1. Yttrium is a soft, silver-metallic, shiny and highly crystalline transition metal in group 3. As predictable by periodic trends, it is less electronegative than its forerunner in the group, scandium, more electronegative than its successor in the group, lanthanum, and less electronegative than the next member of period 5, zirconium. Yttrium is the first d-block element in the fifth period.
2. The pure constituent is relatively stable in air in bulk form, due to passivation resulting from the configuration of a protective oxide film on its surface.

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Application

Yttrium is originate in most rare earth minerals, as well as some uranium ores, but is never found in nature as a free element.About 31 ppm of the Earth's crust is yttrium, making it the 28th most rich element there, and 400 times more frequent than silver. Yttrium is available in soil in concentrations between 10 and 150 ppm of and in sea water at 9 ppt.