lanthanum

E600124

Lanthanum is a soft, silvery-white rare-earth metal that serves as the first element of the lanthanide series and is used in applications such as optical glass, catalysts, and battery electrodes.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
lanthanum canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf chemical element
lanthanide
rare-earth metal
appearance silvery-white metal
soft metal
atomicNumber 57
block f-block
boilingPoint 3737 K
CASNumber 7439-91-0
chemicalSymbol La
crystalStructure hexagonal close-packed
densityAtRoomTemperature 6.15 g/cm³
discoveredBy Carl Gustaf Mosander NERFINISHED
discoveryLocation Sweden NERFINISHED
discoveryYear 1839
electronegativityPauling 1.10
electronicConfiguration [Xe] 5d¹ 6s²
elementCategory lanthanide
rare-earth element
formsOxide lanthanum(III) oxide
isBiologicallyNonessential true
isDuctile true
isMalleable true
isModeratelyToxicInHighDoses true
isotopes lanthanum-138
lanthanum-139
isParamagnetic true
isSoft true
meltingPoint 1193 K
mostAbundantIsotope lanthanum-139
mostCommonOxidationState +3
nameOrigin Greek word "lanthanein" meaning "to lie hidden"
naturalIsotopeComposition mostly stable lanthanum-139 with trace radioactive lanthanum-138
occursInMineral bastnäsite
monazite
oxidationState +3
oxideFormula La2O3
positionInPeriodicTable group 3 (often assigned)
period 6
reactsWithWater true
series lanthanide series
standardAtomicWeight 138.90547
standardState solid
tarnishesInAir true
uses battery electrodes
camera lenses
carbon arc lamps
catalysts
high-refractive-index glass
hydrogen storage alloys
nickel–metal hydride batteries
optical glass
petroleum cracking catalysts
polishing powders

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

lanthanides startsWithElement lanthanum