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Cerium and Samarium – Comparison – Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of cerium and samarium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Cerium vs Samarium.

cerium and samarium - comparison

Compare cerium with another element

Lanthanum - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Samarium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Compare samarium with another element

Cobalt - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Cerium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Cerium and Samarium – About Elements

Cerium

Cerium is a soft, ductile and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and it is soft enough to be cut with a knife. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series. Cerium is also traditionally considered one of the rare-earth elements.

Samarium

Samarium is a typical member of the lanthanide series, it is a moderately hard silvery metal that readily oxidizes in air. The name samarium is after the mineral samarskite from which it was isolated. Although classified as a rare earth element, samarium is the 40th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is more common than such metals as tin. In nuclear industry, especially natural and artificial samarium 149 has an important impact on the operation of a nuclear reactor. Samarium 149 has a very large neutron capture cross-section (about 42 000 barns). Since natural samarium contains about 14% of 149Sm, it can be used as an absorbing material in control rods.

Cerium in Periodic Table

Samarium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Cerium and Samarium – Applications

Cerium

Cerium is an important component of mischmetal alloy. Ferrocerium is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy that produces hot sparks that can reach temperatures of 3,000 °C (5,430 °F) when rapidly oxidized by the process of striking the rod, thereby fragmenting it and exposing those fragments to the oxygen in the air. A typical composition includes approximately 55% cerium, 25% lanthanum, and 15-18% neodymium with other rare earth metals following. The best-known use for this alloy is in ‘flints’ for cigarette lighters. Ceria is the most widely used compound of cerium. The main application of ceria is as a polishing compound, for example in chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP).

Samarium

Samarium is mainly used in preparing samarium-cobalt alloy magnets for electric guitars, small motors and headphones. Samarium-cobalt magnets are much more powerful than iron magnets. They remain magnetic at high temperatures and so are used in microwave applications. They enabled the miniaturisation of electronic devices. However, neodymium magnets are now more commonly used instead. Its oxide is used for manufacturing special infrared adsorbing glass for carbon arc-lamp electrodes. It is useful in doping calcium fluoride crystals employed in optical lasers.

Cerium and Samarium – Comparison in Table

Element Cerium Samarium
Density 6.689 g/cm3 7.353 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength 100 MPa 124 MPa
Yield Strength 90 MPa 110 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity 33.6 GPa 49.7 GPa
Mohs Scale 2.5 N/A
Brinell Hardness 412 MPa 441 MPa
Vickers Hardness 300 MPa 412 MPa
Melting Point 798 °C 1074 °C
Boiling Point 3457 °C 1900 °C
Thermal Conductivity 11 W/mK 13 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient 6.3 µm/mK 12.7 µm/mK
Specific Heat 0.19 J/g K 0.2 J/g K
Heat of Fusion 5.46 kJ/mol 8.63 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization 414 kJ/mol 192 kJ/mol