Chemical Element: gadolinium
(Modern Latin: chemical element; named after gadolinite, a mineral named for Johan Gadolin (1760-1852), a Finnish chemist and mineralogist; rare earth)
Chemical-Element Information
Symbol: GdAtomic number: 64
Year discovered: 1880
Discovered by: Jean-Charles Gallissard de Marignac (1817-1894), a Swiss chemist.
- Spectroscopic lines due to gadolinium were observed by Jean-Charles Galissard de Marignac in 1880 in samples of didymia and gadolinite.
- Gadolinia, the oxide of gadolinium, was separated by Paul-Émile Lecoq de Biosbaudran (1838-1912) in 1886.
- The element was named for the mineral gadolinite from which this rare earth was originally obtained.
Name in other languages:
French: gadolinium
German: Gadolinium
Italian: gadolinio
Spanish: gadolinio
Information about other elements may be seen at this Chemical Elements List.
A special unit about words that include chemo-, chem- may be seen here.