Cerium

Symbol: Ce

Atomic Number: 58

Atomic Weight: 140.12

Cerium (Ce, atomic number 58) is a soft, silvery metal, which was named after the dwarf planet Ceres. The planet itself was discovered 2 years earlier. Cerium comprises around 0.0046 percent of the Earth's crust, making it the most often found rare metal on the planet. Minerals such as monazite and bastnasite contain cerium. Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral, usually found in small and rare crystals. Lanthanum, silica, uranium, thorium, and helium are among the elements found in this mineral. The last can be extracted by heating the mineral.

Bastnasite is a carbonate-fluoride mineral that dates back to...Read More