ELEMENTS

ERBIUM

ERBIUM

• Atomic number 68
• Symbol Er
• Solid at room temperature
• Silvery-white color
• Soft metal

HISTORY

• Carl Gustaf Mosander, a Swedish Chemist discovered it
• It was discovered in 1843
• Ytterby,Sweden

USES

• Erbium isotopes are used in nuclear reactor control rods
• Erbium is also used in alloys with vanadium to decrease hardness of metals
• The oxide erbia is used as a pink coloring agent in glazes and glasses
• It is also used in amplifiers, lasers and in photographic filters to absorb infrared light.
• Erbium is also used in yttrium aluminum garnet medical lasers for skin resurfacing such as acne scars, mole removal, tattoo removal and warts

TELLURIUM

TELLURIUM

• Atomic number 52
• Symbol Te
• It is a solid at room temperature
• Metalloid
• Silver-white color

HISTORY

• Discovered in 1782
• Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein
• Latter in 1798, Martin Heinrich Klaproth named the element tellus after the word "earth"

USES

• Tellurium is used in alloys, mostly with copper and stainless steel, to improve their machinability
• It has been used to vulcanise rubber, to tint glass and ceramics, in solar cells, in rewritable CDs and DVDs, and as a catalyst in oil refining
• It can be doped with silver, gold, copper or tin in semiconductor applications