History

In 1801, the dwarf planet, Ceres was discovered in an asteroid belt. It was disputed weather it was a large asteroid, or a small dwarf planet. That topic is still disputed today. Two years later, in Sweden, Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger. At the same time, in Germany, it was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth.

Uses Today

The main use of cerium in everyday life comes in two forms. One is in car engines. Cerium helps the fuel burn in a cleaner way, therefore better for the environment. The second use is related to this in a way, cerium is put on the walls of self-cleaning ovens, to protect the oven. Why is cerium used for these tasks? Well, cerium can withstand extremely high temperatures, so when it is applied to the engine or oven, it protects the metal from melting.

Toxicity

It ignites with oxygen at 65-80 degrees Celsius. Fumes from the fires are toxic, so don’t inhale them. Water reacts with cerium to create hydrogen gas, so don’t try to put out a fire with water, it’ll just make it even worse.. When exposed to cerium, people have experienced itching and a strange sensitivity to heat. Animals injected with large doses of cerium have died. Be very careful when experimenting with cerium.

The Lanthanides

The Lanthanides are the second-to-bottom row of the periodic table, numbers 57 through 71. The table is named after number 71, Lanthanum. It includes elements in groups 4 through 18. They are the rare earth metals.

Name

Cerium was named after the dwarf planet Ceres, discovered two years earlier in 1801. There is a controversy to weather Ceres is a dwarf planet or an asteroid, considering the fact that Ceres is in an asteroid belt. Ceres itself was named after Ceres, the roman goddess. So in a way, Cerium is named after the roman goddess.

Properties

Cerium’s atomic number is 58, and its weight is 140.12 grams. It is soft, and a light gray shade. It’s in the shape of a squashed sphere. It tarnishes readily. It is the most abundant rare earth metal, also the lanthanides. It’s about the 25Th most abundant element in the earths crust, meaning it’s more abundant than tin, lead and Zinc. It is malleable, but also very ductile. It is very heat resistant with a melting point of 795 degrees Celsius, and it’s boiling point 3257 degrees Celsius.