Samarium

Atomic Number: 62
Symbol: Sm
Atomic Mass: 150.36 u
Number of Neutrons: 88
Melting Point: 1072°C
Boiling Point: 1794°C
Electrons per shell: 2.8.18.24.8.2
Electron configuration: [Xe] 4f⁶ 6s²

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Samarium is the 62nd element in the periodic table and it is in the lanthanide series. It is a moderately hard silvery metal that slowly oxidizes in air. Samarium is the fifth most abundant of the rare earth elements and is almost four times as common as tin. It is not found freely in nature but in ores and minerals such as monazite, bastnasite and samarskite. These ores can be found in USA, China, Brazil, India, Australia and Sri Lanka. Samarium can be used to make very powerful magnets. To make these magnets samarium is combined with the metal cobalt to make samarium-cobalt. Samarium was discovered by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran from France in 1879. This element was named after the mineral samarskite, which was named in honor of a Russian mine, Col. Samarski.

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