Thulium (Tm) Fun Facts
"The Portable X-Ray, the rarest of heroes, who can create X-rays on the go for mobile medical units."
The true essence of Thulium (Tm) on the molecular frontier.
Thulium is a soft, bright, silvery-gray metal.
Thulium is found in a portable X-ray machine used in field hospitals.
Thulium is the rarest of the stable lanthanide elements.
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Did You Know?
It is the least abundant of the naturally occurring lanthanides.
Portable X-ray devices can be powered by a small piece of thulium that has been bombarded with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. The resulting radioactive isotope emits X-rays without needing a large power supply.
Despite its rarity and high cost, it has been used in lasers.
Its name comes from Thule, the Ancient Greek and Latin name for a mythical, distant land in the far north, possibly Scandinavia.
It has a bright, silvery luster but is soft enough to be cut with a knife.