Yttrium

Name:Yttrium
Symbol:Y
Atomic Number:39
Atomic Mass:88.90585
Density:19.88 g/cm^3
Melting Point:1526 °C
Boiling Point:3336 °C
Group Number:3
Group Name:(none)
Standard State:solid at room temperature
Color:silvery white
Classification:Metallic
Yttrium has a silvery-metallic glow. Yttrium turnings ignite in air. Yttrium is found in most rare-earth minerals. Moon rocks contain yttrium and yttrium is used as a "phosphor" to produce the red color in television screens.

Isolation

Yttrium metal is available commercially so it is not normally necessary to make it in the laboratory. Yttrium is found in lathanoid minerals and the extraction of the yttrium and the lanthanide metals from the ores is highly complex. Initially, the metals are extracted as salts from the ores by extraction with sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Modern purification techniques for these lanthanide salt mixtures involve selective complexation techniques, solvent extractions, and ion exchange chromatography.

Pure yttrium is available through the reduction of YF₃ with calcium metal.

2YF₃ + 3Ca → 2Y + 3CaF₂