Dysprosium (Dy)
"The Heat-Resister, a hero who joins forces with Neodymium to keep magnets strong in hot environments like electric car motors."
A memorable persona to anchor Dy in your mind.
8.54
Grams per cm³
1412
Celsius (°C)
229
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Dysprosium is found as a component of the high-performance magnets in electric vehicles.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1886
Discovered By
Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
Origin of Name
"The name is derived from the Greek 'dysprositos', meaning hard to get."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
162.5 u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
2567°C
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f106s2
1st Ionization Energy
5.939 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Dysprosium is a soft, bright, silvery metal."
Did You Know?
Its name comes from the Greek word 'dysprositos', meaning 'hard to get at', because it was extremely difficult to isolate from its ores.
It is added in small amounts to neodymium magnets to help them resist losing their magnetism at high temperatures, which is critical for magnets in electric vehicle motors.
Like terbium, it is used in the magnetostrictive alloy Terfenol-D.
It has a very high magnetic susceptibility, meaning it is strongly attracted to magnets.