ytterbium

American  

[ih-tur-bee-uhm] / ɪˈtɜr bi əm /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a rare metallic element found in gadolinite and forming compounds resembling those of yttrium. Yb; 173.04; 70; 6.96.

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ytterbium British  

/ ɪˈtɜːbɪəm /

noun

1. a soft malleable silvery element of the lanthanide series of metals that occurs in monazite and is used to improve the mechanical properties of steel. Symbol: Yb; atomic no: 70; atomic wt: 173.04; valency: 2 or 3; relative density: 6.903 (alpha), 6.966 (beta); melting pt: 819°C; boiling pt: 1196°C

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ytterbium Scientific  

/ ĭ-tûr′bē-əm /

1. A soft, silvery-white metallic element of the lanthanide series that occurs as seven stable isotopes. It is used as a radiation source for portable x-ray machines. Atomic number 70; atomic weight 173.04; melting point 824°C; boiling point 1,196°C; specific gravity 6.972 or 6.54 (25°C) depending on allotropic form; valence 2, 3.

2. See Periodic Table

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Other Word Forms

• ytterbic adjective
• ytterbous adjective

Etymology

Origin of ytterbium

From New Latin, dating back to 1875–80; ytterbia, -ium

Example Sentences

Heavy rare-earth elements include dysprosium, terbium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium.

From Barron's

The region holds deposits of many of the very elements China has placed under export controls: yttrium, scandium, erbium, europium, ytterbium, samarium, and lutetium.

From Barron's

Central to this innovation is the ytterbium thin-disk laser, which produces high-power, femtosecond pulses at megahertz repetition rates.

From Science Daily

In the case of Quantinuum’s computer, the qubits are the electrons in the ytterbium ions, which can hover in a superposition of two different energy levels.

From Science Magazine

Here, the researchers started with four parent compounds containing five elements in total -- ytterbium, calcium, magnesium, zinc and antimony -- running calculations to determine which combinations of the parent compounds could reach band convergence.

From Science Daily