Atomic Number: 64       Period Number:    6        Group Number: none

Gadolinium is a silvery-white and rare-earth metal. There is no free Gadolinium in nature because it is active. Most Gadolinium are found from monazite and bastnasite. The extracting methods are by ion exchange and solvent extraction. There are 6 isotopes of gadolinium in nature: ¹⁵⁴Gd, ¹⁵⁵Gd, ¹⁵⁶Gd,¹⁵⁷Gd, ¹⁵⁸Gd and ¹⁶⁰Gd.

There is no commercial use of Gadolinium until now. It is a good material for nuclear because it has greatest ability in capturing thermal neutrons. It also used for alloying and its compounds are useful in MRI( magnetic resonance imaging) for diagnosing tumors.

Physical and Chemical properties

Atomic Weight: 157.25

Melting Point: 1586 K

Boiling Point: 3546 K

Density: 7.90 g/cm³

Phase at Room Temperature: Solid

Ionization Energy: 6.150 eV

Oxidation State: +3