Scandium Research Paper

The transition metals have played an important role in human history. It was these elements that were responsible for the Bronze and Iron Ages, during which advances in tools and weapons were made. Today humans are beginning to take advantage of the properties of transition metals located at the left most positions of the d-block on the periodic table. (Jones, L., 2000) One d-block metal that presents new technological avenues in the development of human tools is scandium. Although universally present in the earth’s crust, scandium is found only in trace amounts in minerals. (Scandium Information Center, 2003). Despite its scarcity, scandium has become an important human resource and has many uses.
Scandium was discovered by Lars Fredrick Nilson, a Swedish chemist, in 1878. Nilson discovered scandium, while attempting to produce a sample of pure ytterbia, another transition metal, from 10 kilograms of the mineral euxenite. (It’s elemental, 2003) Through a series of decompo...