Cerium
Cerium is a chemical element with an atomic number of 58. This means that the nucleus of cerium has 58 protons in it. The atomic mass of cerium is 140.12. The chemical symbol of cerium is Ce and it is a member of the lanthanide group.
Properties
Cerium is a grey, shiny or lustrous metal. At room temperature cerium is a solid. It melts and becomes a liquid at 798 o C and boils and becomes a gas at 3424 o C. It burns in air to form a compound with one cerium atom and two oxygen atoms. 0.0046% of the Earth’s crust is cerium which means that it is quite common - more common than Tin and Lead and nearly as common as zinc
Discovery
Cerium was first found in Sweden in 1803 by Berzelius and Hisinger and Klaproth in Germany. Because it is very reactive, it was not purified until 1875 in Washington DC. Cerium was named after the asteroid or minor planet Ceres which was first seen two years earlier in 1801.
Uses
Cerium is not often used as a metal since it quickly reacts with the air and tarnishes. Its most common use is as the ‘flint’ in a lighter, because it easily produces a spark when it is struck with another metal. Cerium is sometimes used in alloys because it often makes the alloy more heat resistant. Cerium is also used in special glass, ceramics and self-cleaning ovens.
Oxidation
Cerium reacts in two ways to produce cerous compounds or salts and ceric compounds. Cerous salts have an oxidation number of 3 and ceric salts have an oxidation of 4.
Isotopes
Cerium has many isotopes. Four of them are (observationally) stable, and are found in nature instead of having to be made,
- Cerium-136 which has 58 protons and 78 neutrons in its nucleus
- Cerium-138 which has 58 protons and 80 neutrons
- Cerium-140 which has 58 protons and 82 neutrons
- Cerium-142 which has 58 protons and 84 neutrons. Cerium-140 (88.5% of all cerium) and Ce-142 (11.1%) are the most common. The average of the weights of each isotope is what give cerium its atomic mass of 140.12.
Written for younger readers
Cerium, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: The Elements
NOTOC
Cerium is a rare earth element (REE) group (in the Lanthanide series). It looks like a soft, silver-grey METAL and it’s very malleable. It tarnishes when exposed to air. It’s very reactive. It is also the most common element in the rare earth elements group. Cerium and mischmetal fires have a distinct smell that has both a metallic and smoky quality.
It was discovered by two Swedish scientists named Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger in 1803. It was discovered in Bastnäs, in Sweden.
It was named after the asteroid Ceres which was discovered in 1801. A fun fact is the asteroid was discovered two years before the element “Cerium” was found out. Did You Know?
- Humphry Davy invented electrochemistry which help scientists to isolate the cerium from other elements
- About 0.0046% of the weight of Earth’s crust is composed of cerium.
- The named Cerium came from the asteroid named Ceres. The asteroid was discovered about two years before the humans welcomed the element into human life.
Cerium oxide is used to make the glass shiny again.
Cerium metal is used for making ferrocerium lighters. Ferrocerium lighters have a flint spark lighter that produce a little spark after the fire has been lit.
It is dangerous because it is highly reactive with water and produces hydrogen gas during the reaction. Also it will ignite if it is scratched with a sharp object, such as a knife. BUT it can be safe if used or mixed with other elements.
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Cerium” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.