Atomic Number: 69     Period Number:6      Group Number:  None

Thulium is a bright silvery-gray metal, which belongs to lanthanide series. It is stable in air and unstable in water. There is only one stable isotope in nature: ¹⁶⁹Tm.

 

The pure metal and compound have few commercial uses because it is expensive and has little to offer. Thulium has been used to create lasers. When stable thulium (¹⁶⁹Tm) is bombarded in a nuclear reactor it can later serve as a radiation source in portable X-ray devices. It also has potential use in ceramic magnetic materials called ferrites, which 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.

Physical and Chemical properties:

Atomic Weight: 168.93421

Melting Point: 1818 K

Boiling Point: 2223 K

Density: 9.32 g/cm³

Phase at Room Temperature: Solid

Ionization Energy: 6.184 eV

Oxidation State: +3