ITRIO

Characteristics and uses

Yttrium is considered a transition metal and is known to have a silvery white appearance. It is chemically similar to other lanthanides and is classified as a rare-earth element ( a group of 17 silvery-white heavy metals, that are basically indistinguishable). It's commonly found in combination with other lanthanides in rare-earth minerals and is mined mainly in China, Russia, India, Malaysia and Australia. It only has one stable isotope, which is yttrium-89 and it's the only isotope found in the earth's crust.

Some of the most important uses of yttrium are fabrication of LED lights and phosphors used in cathode ray tubes (vacuum tubes containing electron guns, which beams are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen) for older television displays. It's also used as an additive in alloys to increase the strength, and it's mainly used in alluminium and magnesium alloys. It's commonly used in lasers that can cut through metals (YAG Laser), and if oxidised, it can form yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃ ), which is added to glass of camera lenses to make them heat and shock resistant and on top of that yttrium can also be used to make superconductors. Finally, the radioactive isotope yttrium-90 has been used to treat some cancers, most commonly liver cancer.

Interesting facts and uses in space exploration

Yttrium was initially discovered in Ytterby, Sweden, therefore giving it it's characteristic name. Currently, scientists from a university in Denmark are using yttrium and other rare earth metals in nanoparticle form, which may one day eliminate the need for fossil fuels and drastically improve the efficiency of battery-powered cars. Also, a lot of research is being done on the superconductive properties of yttrium based materials and how it can be used to make levitation trains and be used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is a scan used in health care to create images of the organs and soft tissues of the human body.

When discussing the uses of yttrium in space exploration, it can be used to fabricate lasers that would be stationed on satellites that could orbit other celestial bodies such as the Moon or Mars, or maybe in the future planets that are further away. Once in orbit of the celestial body, the laser of the satellite can direct a sequence of short optical pulses onto the surface, these pulses are reflected from the surface, and the reflected pulses are detected by the satellite. Since we know the speed of light, we can measure the distance from the satellite to the surface. By repeating the emission of short optical pulses many times, we can obtain a three-dimensional topological map of the celestial body that we are studying. On top of that, a very high distance resolution can be obtained and by using lasers that emit different colors of light, these colors would reflect in different ways and this way we could also study the composition of clouds, and even detect water, minerals and other natural resources under the surface. This method of laser mapping is very accurate and could be used to discover life on other planets in the future.

Ir a página "itinerarios"