Symbol

Eu

Atomic Number

63

Atomic Mass

151.96

Family

Lanthanide (Rare Earth Metal) Pronunciation

yuh-RO-pea-um

Overview

Europium was discovered in 1901 by French chemist Eugene- Anatole Demarcay (1852-1904). Demarcay named the element after the continent of Europe. It was one of the Last of the rare earth elements discovered.

The term rare earth elements has long been used for elements in Row 6 of the periodic table, a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. A better name for these elements is lanthanides. This name comes from the first element in Row 6, lanthanum. Rare earth elements are not especially rare, but were originally very difficult to separate from one another.

Europium is the most active of the lanthanides. It is more likely to react with other elements than the other rare earth elements.

Europium is quite expensive to produce, so it has few practical uses. It is used...