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What the name
means: The name scandium derives
from the Latin word Scandia meaning
Scandinavia.
Who identified
scandium? The first chemist who
realised that scandium existed was Dimitri
Mendeleev who, in 1869, was the creator of
the first periodic table. He realised that
there had to be an element between calcium
and titanium and he named this theoretic
element, ekaboron.
Ten years later, in
1879, Lars Fredrick Nilson identified a new
element from rock samples found in Norway.
He called this element scandium since it
seemed restricted to certain mineral
deposits found in Scandinavia. It was
another Swedish scientist, Per Teodor
Cleve, who realised that ekaboron and
scandium were one in the same.
Scandium proved very
difficult to separate from its compounds.
It was not until 1960 that a 99% pure
sample was obtained by electrolysis.
About scandium:
In fact, scandium is rare on Earth.
The element can be found in certain areas
of Scandinavia and Madagascar. There is
more scandium detected in the sun and other
stars than to be found in the Earth’s
crust! Scandium is never found as the free
element because it is too reactive. |
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