Previous Element Dysprosium. Next Element Erbium. What's in a name? From the Latin word for the city of Stockholm, Holmia. Say what? About Lenntech. General Delivery Conditions. Privacy Policy. All rights reserved. Holmium Holmium is a melleable, soft, lustrous metal with a silvery colour, belonging to the lantanides series of the periodic chart of elements. Upon analyzing the brown material, he determined that it was an oxide of a previously undiscovered element that he later named holmium, after his hometown of Stockholm.
The green material was later found to be an oxide of the element thulium. Currently, holmium only has very specific uses in commercial applications. Due to its high magnetic strength, however, holmium does see some use as an alloying element for the production of special types of magnets.
It also is used as a magnetic pole piece placed within other high-strength magnets to create the strongest artificially generated magnetic fields, called magnetic-flux concentrators. Furthermore, since holmium isotopes are good neutron absorbers, they can be used in nuclear-reactor control rods. Holmium oxide also can be used as a colorant for cubic zirconia and certain types of glass, which lends it a yellow or red coloring. This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience.
By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. It is also found in very, very small amounts in the body and affects metabolism in certain bacteria, but it doesn't seem to be essential and no one really knows what, exactly, it does.
But perhaps I've been a bit harsh on poor old holmium, which, to be fair, doesn't get a whole lot of press. Because it does perform another useful task that's deserving of a mention. Some of the most cutting edge lasers used to treat certain cancers are solid-state lasers that require holmium to dope yttrium aluminium crystals.
The lasers can be used to vaporise tumours with only minor tissue damage; a patient with early stage bladder cancer can be in and out of hospital in an afternoon without a general anaesthetic. So there you have it: mythical monopoles and vaporising lasers.
Not bad for an element you barely even knew existed. So the search for the monopole continues, but vaporising tumours with minimal tissue damage is definitely a noteworthy application of holmium. That was science writer Hayley Birch with the mythical chemistry of holmium. Now, staying on treatments for cancer next week's element also has a radiating way to kill cancer cells. And so an element discovered in the same mineral - pitchblende - which kick-started the whole science of nuclear chemistry, today stands at the crossroads of one of the most challenging of all medical disciplines - finding a cure for cancer.
And Oxford's Richard Corfield will be revealing more uses for actinium as well as the origin of the actinides in next week's Chemistry in its element. Until then I'm Meera Senthilingam and thank you for listening. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists.
There's more information and other episodes of Chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld. Click here to view videos about Holmium. View videos about. Help Text. Learn Chemistry : Your single route to hundreds of free-to-access chemistry teaching resources.
We hope that you enjoy your visit to this Site. We welcome your feedback. Data W. Haynes, ed. Version 1. Coursey, D. Schwab, J. Tsai, and R. Dragoset, Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions version 4. Periodic Table of Videos , accessed December Podcasts Produced by The Naked Scientists. Download our free Periodic Table app for mobile phones and tablets. Explore all elements. D Dysprosium Dubnium Darmstadtium. E Europium Erbium Einsteinium. F Fluorine Francium Fermium Flerovium.
G Gallium Germanium Gadolinium Gold. I Iron Indium Iodine Iridium. K Krypton. O Oxygen Osmium Oganesson. U Uranium. V Vanadium. X Xenon. Y Yttrium Ytterbium. Z Zinc Zirconium. Membership Become a member Connect with others Supporting individuals Supporting organisations Manage my membership. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Discovery date. Discovered by. Origin of the name. The name is derived from the Latin name for Stockholm, 'Holmia'.
Melting point. Boiling point. Atomic number. Relative atomic mass. Key isotopes.
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