History –
            In 1907, Georges Urbain, a French scientist, and, Boron Carl Auer von Welshbach, a German scientist, discovered that ytterbium was made up of another element, which was later named Lutetium.  The two scientists were working separately, so the fact that they discovered it at almost the same time is a complete coincidence.  After it was discovered, Welshbach named it “Cassiopium,” after the constellation “Cassiopeia.”  Some German scientists still refer to Lutetium as Cassiopium.  Urbain, not knowing of the other discovery and naming, named it after the Ancient name for Paris, “Luteia.”  Although Lutetium’s founders never got to obtain pure Lutetium from Ytterbium, future scientists did.

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Physical and Chemical Properties –
            Lutetium is a soft, silvery-white, and corrosion resistant element found at the end of the Lanthanides.  Its melting point is 1652 degrees Celsius (3006 degrees Fahrenheit), and it boils at 3327 degrees Celsius (6021 degrees Fahrenheit).  Its density is 8.49 grams per cubic centimeter.  It reacts slowly with water, and it dissolve in acid.  Its also very rare in the Earth’s crust, with only .8 – 1.7 parts per million.  Its only use is that it’s used as a catalyst for petroleum experiments. It has 71 protons, and 104 neutrons, and it has two isotopes—Lutetium 175, which is not radioactive, and Lutetium – 176, which is radioactive.

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Lanthanides –
The Lanthanides are located on top row of the two rows of elements below the transition metals on the periodic table.  They are known as the rare earth metals, and they are all relatively soft metals (their hardness increases as their atomic number increases). They have generally ionic compounds.  They mostly burn easily in the air, and they have very high melting and boiling points.  They are very reactive, and they mostly react with nonmetals and slowly in water. 

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