Crossword clues for cerium
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cerium \Ce"ri*um\, n. [Named by Berzelius in 1803 from the asteroid Ceres, then just discovered (1801).] (Chem.) A rare metallic element, occurring in the minerals cerite, allanite, monazite, etc. Symbol Ce. Atomic weight 141.5. It resembles iron in color and luster, but is soft, and both malleable and ductile. It tarnishes readily in the air.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
element, first isolated in pure form in 1875, named for ceria, the name of the earth from which it was taken, which was discovered in 1803 and named by Berzelius and Hissinger for Ceres, the minor planet, which had been discovered in 1801 and named for the Roman goddess Ceres.
Wiktionary
n. A metallic chemical element (''symbol'' Ce) with an atomic number of 58.
WordNet
n. a ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series; used in lighter flints; the most abundant of the rare-earth group [syn: Ce, atomic number 58]
Wikipedia
Cerium is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metallic chemical element with symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It tarnishes rapidly when exposed to air and is soft enough to be cut with a knife. It is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it often shows the +3 state characteristic of the series, it also exceptionally has a stable +4 state that does not oxidise water. It is also traditionally considered to be one of the rare earth elements. Cerium has no biological role, but is not very toxic either.
Cerium is the most common of the lanthanides, followed by neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium. It is the 26th most abundant element, making up 66 ppm of the Earth's crust, half as much as chlorine and five times as much as lead. Despite always being found in combination with the other rare earth elements in minerals such as monazite and bastnäsite, cerium is easy to extract from its ores, as it can be distinguished among the lanthanides by its unique ability to be oxidised to the +4 state.
Cerium was discovered in Bastnäs, Sweden by Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger in 1803, and independently by Martin Heinrich Klaproth in Germany: it was the first of the lanthanides to be discovered. It was first isolated by Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1839. Today, cerium and its compounds have a variety of uses: for example, cerium(IV) oxide is used to polish glass and is an important part of catalytic convertors. Cerium metal is used in ferrocerium lighters for its pyrophoric properties.
Usage examples of "cerium".
There is more cerium on Earth than copper, more neodymium and lanthanum than cobalt or nitrogen.
Traces of cerium compounds boiled with dioxide of lead and nitric acid will give a yellow solution.
An account of the discovery of cerium may be of some interest to the general reader, not so much for what it tells us about chemistry as for the window it opens into that particular moment in history.
He was the first to produce cerium by decomposing its oxide using potassium vapor.
Then there's cerium one fortyfour, plutonium two thirtynine, barium oneforty.
An early mixture of magnesium and perchlorate of potash has since given way to an even slower-burning mix of aluminum powder and potassium permanganate which will probably remain standard until the last Musky has been slain (long-range plans for long-range artillery shot will have to wait until we can find a good cheap source of cerium, zirconium or thorium—.
An early mixture of magnesium and perchlorate of potash has since given way to an even slower-burning mix of aluminum powder and potassium permanganate which will probably remain standard until the last Musky has been slain (long-range plans for long-range artillery shot will have to wait until we can find a good cheap source of cerium, zirconium or thoriumunlikely in the near future).
He had added small quantities of cerium and praeseodymium to the culture medium to stimulate cell growth, and used them to "dope" the semiconductors to allow the neurons to be electronically interfaced with the diamond substrates of the chips.
That same morning, as all the experts and high officials of the secret police shook their heads, bleary-eyed after a sleepless night, the constructors asked for quartz, vanadium, steel, copper, platinum, rhinestones, dysprosium, yttrium and thulium, also cerium and germanium, and most of the other elements that make up the Universe, plus a variety of machines and qualified technicians, not to mention a wide as sortment of spies--for so insolent had the constructors become, that on the triplicate requisition form they boldly wrote: "Also, kindly send agents of various cuts and stripes at the discretion and with the approval of the Proper Authorities.
If he impregnated a cylindrical fabric with thorium nitrate, to which was added a small percentage of cerium nitrate, he got a brilliant white glow.