Terbium (Tb)
"The Green-Screen, the hero who brings the vibrant green to energy-efficient lights and TV screens."
A memorable persona to anchor Tb in your mind.
8.23
Grams per cm³
1359
Celsius (°C)
221
Radius (pm)
Daily Life Link
Terbium is found in the green phosphor in a low-energy fluorescent light bulb.
Discovery & History
Year Discovered
1843
Discovered By
Carl Gustaf Mosander
Origin of Name
"Terbium was named after Ytterby, Sweden."
Technical Properties
Atomic Mass
158.925 u
Standard State
solid
Boiling Point
3230°C
Electron Configuration
[Xe] 4f96s2
1st Ionization Energy
5.864 eV
Electron Affinity
N/A
Oxidation States
"Terbium is a silvery-white, malleable, rare earth metal."
Did You Know?
It is a key component in producing the green phosphor used in trichromatic lighting, such as fluorescent lamps and modern TV and smartphone screens.
The alloy Terfenol-D, made with terbium, dysprosium, and iron, expands or contracts when exposed to a magnetic field (a property called magnetostriction) and is used in advanced sonar systems and sensors.
Like its neighbors yttrium, erbium, and ytterbium, it is named after the village of Ytterby in Sweden.
It is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife.