Thulium

Discovered in 1879 by Per Teodor Cleve of Sweden, thulium is the 69th element. It is named for Thule, which is the ancient name for Scandinavia. It is the least abundant of all rare earth elements, and is very resistant to corrosion when in dry air. It is relatively expensive, costing 40-50 dollars per gram.

 It is very easy to work with, and is so soft it can be easily cut with a knife. Like almost all other rare earth elements, it is found in other minerals- except for one of its stable isotopes, which is found free in nature.

It has many common uses, but the one I found most interesting was that it is being researched to be a possible energy source in the future. I am taking a energy course right now, and one of our future topics will be electric cars and stuff like that. Other than that, it is also used in:

• Lasers
• Nuclear reactors
• Portable X-ray power supplies
• Microwave equipment