(So named in 1886 by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist, and Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac, Swiss chemist, who had each isolated it, in honor of Johan Gadolin) A chemical element, one of the rare-earth metals, that is highly magnetic at low temperatures, superconductive, and has the highest rate of neutron absorption of any element. Its alloys are used in making magnets and electronic components and in the recording heads of video recorders.
Symbol: Gd
Atomic number: 64
Atomic weight: 157.25
Density (at
room temperature and
pressure): 7.90
g/
cc
Melting point: 1,313°
C
Boiling point: 3,273°
C
Valence: +3
Ground state electron configuration: [
Xe]4f
75s
16s
2