Dysprosium
Metallic with a bright silvery-white lustre. Dysprosium belongs to the lanthanoids. It is relatively stable in air at room temperatures, it will however dissolve in mineral acids, evolving hydrogen. It is found in from rare-earth minerals. There are seven natural isotopes of dysprosium, and eight radioisotopes, Dy-154 being the most stable with a half-life of 3*10^6 years. Dysprosium is used as a neutron absorber in nuclear fission reactions, and in compact disks. It was discovered by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1886 in France. Its name comes from the Greek word dysprositos, which means hard to obtain.
Gallery
Jurii, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, source: https://images-of-elements.com/dysprosium.php
Physical Propertiesmass · density · phase · crystal
Atomic Mass
162.5000Da
Density
8.5500g/cm³
Phase (STP)
Solid
Melting Point
1685.2K
Boiling Point
2840.2K
Molar Heat
0.1730J/(mol·K)
Crystal Structure
HEX
Lattice Constant
3.590Å
Atomic Radiiatomic · covalent · van der Waals
Atomic (Empirical)
175.00pm
Covalent
167.00pm
Van der Waals
231.00pm
Electronic Propertieselectronegativity · ionization · affinity
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f10 6s2
Electron Shells
2, 8, 18, 28, 8, 2
Electronegativity
1.22Pauling
Electron Affinity
0.4kJ/mol
1st Ionization Energy
5.9kJ/mol
Oxidation States
+2, +3
Orbital DiagramAufbau · Hund's rule · Pauli exclusion
Full: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f10 6s2Short: [Xe] 4f10 6s2
Ionization Energies (66 known)
Emission Spectrumvisible range · characteristic spectral lines
Abundanceby mass
Log scale · ppm = parts per million by mass
Biological Role
No known biological role.
Discovery
Discovered By
Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
Named By
—
Year
1886
Nuclear Data
Known Isotopes
39
Stable Isotopes
7
Stable Mass Numbers
156, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164
Natural isotopic abundance (IUPAC recommended values)
Isotopes of Dy39 known
| Nuclide | Z | N | Mass (AMU) | Half-life | Decay | Jπ | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138Dy | 66 | 72 | 137.962500 | Unknown | β⁺, β⁺p | 0+ | — |
| 139Dy | 66 | 73 | 138.959527 | 600 ms | β⁺ (1%), β⁺p (0.11%) | 7/2+ | — |
| 140Dy | 66 | 74 | 139.954020 | Unknown | β⁺, β⁺p | 0+ | — |
| 156Dystable | 66 | 90 | 155.924284 | Stable | α, 2β⁺ | 0+ | 5.6000% |
| 158Dystable | 66 | 92 | 157.924415 | Stable | α, 2β⁺ | 0+ | 9.5000% |
| 160Dystable | 66 | 94 | 159.925204 | Stable | stable (1%) | 0+ | 232.9000% |
| 161Dystable | 66 | 95 | 160.926939 | Stable | stable (1%) | 5/2+ | 1888.9000% |
| 162Dystable | 66 | 96 | 161.926805 | Stable | stable (1%) | 0+ | 2547.5000% |
| 163Dystable | 66 | 97 | 162.928737 | Stable | stable (1%) | 5/2- | 2489.6000% |
| 164Dystable | 66 | 98 | 163.929181 | Stable | stable (1%) | 0+ | 2826.0000% |
| 174Dy | 66 | 108 | 173.955845 | Unknown | β⁻, β⁻n | 0+ | — |
| 175Dy | 66 | 109 | 174.960569 | Unknown | β⁻, β⁻n | 1/2- | — |
| 176Dy | 66 | 110 | 175.963918 | Unknown | β⁻, β⁻n | 0+ | — |