Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A silvery metallic element, not a rare earth but occurring in nearly all rare-earth minerals, used in various metallurgical applications, notably to increase the strength of magnesium and aluminum alloys. Its oxide and other compounds are useful as phosphors, microwave filters, laser dopants, and superconducting materials. Atomic number 39; atomic weight 88.906; melting point 1,522°C; boiling point 3,345°C; specific gravity 4.469 (at 25°C); valence 3. cross-reference: Periodic Table.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Chemical symbol, Y; atomic weight, 89 (?). A metal, the base of the earth yttria.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Chem.) A rare metallic element of the boron-aluminium group, found in gadolinite and other rare minerals, and extracted as a dark gray powder. Symbol Y. Atomic number 39. Atomic weight, 88.9.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Y) with an
atomic number of 39.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A material called yttrium barium copper oxide can be turned into a superconductor by exposure to liquid nitrogen - which makes it one of the highest-temperature superconductors.
Wired Top Stories Wired UK 2011
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Solid oxide fuel cells typically require rare elements such as yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, strontium or cesium, cerium, etc.
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The development project with mine-owner Wings Enterprises Inc. comes as concerns heighten about China's tight grip on production of metals such as yttrium required in hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, flat panel televisions, defense missiles and satellites.
Glencore Backs Rare Earths Mining Project Robert Guy Matthews 2010
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Solid oxide fuel cells typically require rare elements such as yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, strontium or cesium, cerium, etc.
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Exotic materials such as yttrium silver (a metallic compound that manages to be both ductile and strong at the same time) and lithium niobate (which does all manner of weird things to light) are fascinating regardless of whether they might be some sort of real-world equivalents of mithril or the palantirs.
Archive 2009-03-01 Carla 2009
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Exotic materials such as yttrium silver (a metallic compound that manages to be both ductile and strong at the same time) and lithium niobate (which does all manner of weird things to light) are fascinating regardless of whether they might be some sort of real-world equivalents of mithril or the palantirs.
The Science of Middle Earth, by Henry Gee. Book review Carla 2009
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Ninety per cent of rare earth elements, with arcane names such as yttrium, samarium and lanthanum, are mined in China, and are used in high-tech applications such as smartphones and lasers.
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They say that minute amounts of a metal called 'yttrium' may impede neuronal activity.
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China controls up to 97% of world production of these elements — which include samarium, scandium and yttrium — and its export quotas for this year are nearly exhausted.
Rare Earth Shortages Hit Germany Beate Preuschoff 2010
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I look forward to his discussion of scandium and yttrium.
oroboros commented on the word yttrium
Y
December 2, 2007