|
What
the name means:
Samarium was named after the mineral
samarskite in which it
was first identified,
Samarskite was, in turn named after a
Russian colonel, Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets,
Who
identified
samarium?
Samarium was identified by the French
scientist, François Lecoq de Boisbaudran in
1879.
About
samarium:
Samarium
is one of the members of the group of
elements know as the rare earths. There are
sixteen elements in this group. The word
“earth” was used to describe the oxide of
metals. The word “rare” was applied to
these sixteen elements because it was
believed that their metal oxides were not
present in any great quantity in the
Earth’s crust. In fact, for most of the
elements in this group, this is not the
case. Their metal oxides are quite
abundant, although they often occur mixed
with other compounds. |
The Open Door Web Site 
