Thulium and Lutetium - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of thulium and lutetium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Thulium vs Lutetium.

thulium and lutetium - comparison

Compare thulium with another element

Compare lutetium with another element

Thulium and Lutetium – About Elements

Thulium

Thulium is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster. It is fairly soft and slowly tarnishes in air. Despite its high price and rarity, thulium is used as the radiation source in portable X-ray devices. Thulium is the thirteenth and third-last element in the lanthanide series.

Lutetium

Lutetium is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted among the rare earths.

Thulium in Periodic Table

Lutetium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Thulium and Lutetium – Applications

Thulium

The pure metal and compound have few commercial uses: because it is very rare and expensive and has little to offer, thulium find little application outside chemical research. Thulium has been used to create lasers. Thulium lasers require less cooling and function very well at high temperatures and are used in satellites. When stable thulium (Tm-169) is bombarded in a nuclear reactor it can later serve as a radiation source in portable X-ray devices. Thulium-170 is gaining popularity as an X-ray source for cancer treatment via brachytherapy. Thulium has been used in high-temperature superconductors similarly to yttrium. Thulium potentially has use in ferrites, ceramic magnetic materials that are used in microwave equipment. Thulium-doped calcium sulphate has been used in personal radiation dosimeters because it can register, by its fluorescence, especially low levels.

Lutetium

Lutetium is not extensively used metal. Most lutetium is used only in research. One of its few commercial uses is as a catalyst for cracking hydrocarbons in oil refineries. It is used in detectors of positron emission topography that detects cellular activity of the body.

Thulium and Lutetium – Comparison in Table

Element	Thulium	Lutetium
Density	9.321 g/cm3	9.841 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A	N/A
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	74 GPa	68.6 GPa
Mohs Scale	N/A	N/A
Brinell Hardness	740 MPa	900 MPa
Vickers Hardness	520 MPa	1100 MPa
Melting Point	1545 °C	1663 °C
Boiling Point	1950 °C	3402 °C
Thermal Conductivity	17 W/mK	16 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	13.3 µm/mK	9.9 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.16 J/g K	0.15 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	16.84 kJ/mol	18.6 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	191 kJ/mol	355.9 kJ/mol