{"id":2566,"date":"2025-06-27T15:55:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T10:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2025-06-29T16:44:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:14:52","slug":"samarium-sm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/2025\/06\/27\/samarium-sm\/","title":{"rendered":"Samarium (Sm)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd39 Basic Information<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Element Name<\/strong>: Samarium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Discovered By<\/strong>: Lecoq de Boisbaudran<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Year of Discovery<\/strong>: 1879<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Category<\/strong>: Lanthanide (Rare Earth Metal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Group<\/strong>: f-block<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State at Room Temperature<\/strong>: Solid (silvery-white metal) \u2699\ufe0f<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Samarium is a <strong>moderately hard, rare earth metal<\/strong> that <strong>oxidizes slowly in air<\/strong> and has important uses in <strong>magnets and electronics<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd38 Chemical Properties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Chemical Symbol<\/strong>: Sm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atomic Number<\/strong>: 62<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atomic Mass<\/strong>: ~150.36 u<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Valency<\/strong>: +3 (main), +2 (less common)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electronic Configuration<\/strong>: [Xe] 4f\u2076 6s\u00b2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Samarium is <strong>fairly reactive<\/strong> and forms <strong>oxides and hydroxides<\/strong> when exposed to oxygen and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcd8 Basic Things to Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Samarium gets its name from the mineral <strong>samarskite<\/strong>, which itself was named after a Russian mine official, Colonel Samarsky \u2014 making it the <strong>first element named after a person<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udd14 Interesting Facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Samarium is used to make <strong>samarium-cobalt (SmCo) magnets<\/strong>, which are super strong and work well at high temperatures. \ud83e\uddf2\ud83d\udd25<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It\u2019s used in <strong>nuclear reactors<\/strong> because it can absorb neutrons effectively. \u2622\ufe0f<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Samarium compounds glow under certain light \u2014 used in <strong>lasers and optics<\/strong>. \u2728<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It\u2019s found in minerals like <strong>monazite<\/strong> and <strong>bastn\u00e4site<\/strong>, often with other lanthanides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Samarium plays a role in <strong>treating cancer<\/strong> \u2014 a radioactive form, samarium-153, helps relieve bone pain in cancer patients. \ud83e\ude7b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd27 Common Uses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Magnets<\/strong>: Samarium-cobalt magnets are used in <strong>microwave tech, motors, headphones, and aerospace<\/strong>. \ud83c\udfa7\ud83d\ude80<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lasers &amp; Optics<\/strong>: Used in <strong>infrared lasers and optical glass<\/strong>. \ud83d\udd2c\ud83d\udd34<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nuclear Reactors<\/strong>: Acts as a <strong>neutron absorber<\/strong> for controlling reactions. \u269b\ufe0f<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Medicine<\/strong>: Radioactive <strong>samarium-153<\/strong> is used in <strong>targeted cancer treatment<\/strong>. \ud83e\uddec<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Glass Coloring<\/strong>: Adds <strong>yellow or red tints<\/strong> to specialized glass. \ud83d\udfe0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcda Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Samarium may be a quiet element, but it has <strong>powerful uses<\/strong> in everything from <strong>strong magnets to medicine and nuclear science<\/strong>. For students, it\u2019s a great example of how rare earths are essential to <strong>modern technology and advanced health care<\/strong>. \ud83e\uddf2\ud83e\uddea\ud83c\udf0d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udd39 Basic Information Samarium is a moderately hard, rare earth metal that oxidizes slowly in air &hellip; <a title=\"Samarium (Sm)\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/2025\/06\/27\/samarium-sm\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Samarium (Sm)<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[672],"tags":[656,652,653,661,647,643,648,670,666,664,662,650,651,645,660,663,655,646,657,659,658,665,642,644,668,669,667,649,671,654],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-periodic-table-for-students","tag-actinides","tag-alkali-metals","tag-alkaline-earth-metals","tag-atomic-mass","tag-atomic-number","tag-chemical-elements","tag-chemical-symbols","tag-chemistry-basics","tag-chemistry-study-guide","tag-electron-configuration","tag-electronegativity","tag-element-groups","tag-element-periods","tag-element-properties","tag-halogens","tag-ionization-energy","tag-lanthanides","tag-mendeleev-periodic-table","tag-metalloids","tag-noble-gases","tag-nonmetals","tag-oxidation-states","tag-periodic-table","tag-periodic-table-elements","tag-periodic-table-explained","tag-periodic-table-facts","tag-periodic-table-for-students","tag-periodic-trends","tag-science-education","tag-transition-metals"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/27.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions\/2580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/texpertssolutions.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}