ytterbium
pronunciation
How to pronounce ytterbium in British English:
UK [ɪˈtɜ:biəm]
How to pronounce ytterbium in American English:
US [ɪˈtɜrbiəm]
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- Noun:
- a soft silvery metallic element; a rare earth of the lanthanide series; it occurs in gadolinite and monazite and xenotime
Word Origin
- ytterbium (n.)
- metallic rare-earth element, 1879, coined in Modern Latin by Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander (1797-1858) from Ytterby, name of a town in Sweden where mineral containing it was found.
Example
- 1. His team operates a ytterbium optical lattice clock one of the latest types of souped-up atomic timepieces .
- 2. With names like cerium , lanthanum , and ytterbium , rare earth elements aren 't exactly household names .
- 3. The imperial college london study , which is most accurate measurement yet of the shape of the electron , looked at particles inside molecules called ytterbium fluoride .
- 4. Although not household names , materials with names such as lanthanum , cerium and ytterbium can be found hard-disk drives , cellphones , electric-car batteries and other products .