Neodymium
lanthanideProperties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Atomic Mass | 144.24 amu |
| Category | lanthanide |
| Period | 6 |
| Electron Configuration | [Xe] 4f4 6s2 |
| Electronegativity | 1.14 (Pauling) |
| Oxidation States | 3 |
| Melting Point | 1297 K (1023.9 °C) |
| Boiling Point | 3347 K (3073.8 °C) |
| Density | 7.01 g/cm³ |
| Discovered By | Carl Auer von Welsbach (1885) |
About Neodymium
Neodymium is the lanthanide that quietly built the modern motor. Its 4f⁴ configuration gives it four unpaired electrons, and when you alloy it with iron and boron in the Nd₂Fe₁₄B tetragonal phase you get a permanent magnet with an energy product around 50 MGOe — roughly an order of magnitude beyond the alnicos that came before. Sumitomo and General Motors discovered the phase independently in 1984, and within a decade NdFeB had taken over voice coil actuators in hard drives, the rotors of EV traction motors, and the direct-drive generators in offshore wind turbines. Welsbach separated Nd from praseodymium in 1885 by fractional crystallization of the ammonium nitrate double salts (the name means 'new twin'). The +3 state dominates everything: NdCl₃ is a pale lilac, Nd₂O₃ is blue-violet, and Nd³⁺ doped into yttrium aluminum garnet at about 1 atomic percent gives the 1064 nm line that powers Nd:YAG lasers used in everything from LASIK to laser cutting.
Fun Fact
A small neodymium magnet the size of a coin can lift over 1,000 times its own weight — these magnets are so strong that large ones can cause serious injuries if fingers get caught between them.
Common Uses
- Nd₂Fe₁₄B sintered magnets for EV traction motors and HDD actuators
- Direct-drive permanent-magnet generators in offshore wind turbines
- Nd:YAG lasers at 1064 nm for surgery, marking, and rangefinding
- Didymium glass for welding goggles (filters the 589 nm Na D-line)
- Cracking catalysts in fluid catalytic cracking units