How Are Rare Earth Metals Used?

  Rare earth commodities also known as rare earth metals have many uses in today’s economy and make things much more effective through their application.


  Rare earth metals are not in essence rare, mainly due to the fact that they are found in abundance. However, they are classified as rare due to the fact they are spread around and not found in economically usable forms. This means they are well desired and found in some of the best technology around. Below are a few rare earth elements with their uses attached.
Yttrium – The first rare metal to be mentioned is Yttrium. Yttrium is only made through a mixture of other rare metals. It’s actually 400 times more abundant than silver but due to the fact it has to be mixed it’s classed as a rare metal. The main uses for Yttrium are in LED Televisions where it’s mixed with another element to produce red pixels. Another use for this metal is notably helping to cure various cancers including lymphoma, ovarian and bone cancer.
Scandium – Scandium is another rare earth commodity which is popular. This is mainly due to its important and extensive range of uses. The main use of Scandium is with the addition to aluminium where it’s used to increase the strength in zones that have a lot of heat. Having this makes it ideal for fighter jets as well as consumer products like bicycle frames and baseball bats.
Neodymium–The majority of Neodymium rests in China which causes a bit of an issue with the western world. Magnets that apply this rare metal are the strongest magnets known and can lift 1000x their own weight. Any material that requires a magnetic field to function uses this metal as well which will include loudspeakers, microphones and computer hard disks. This material is also used in lasers for both commercial and military use.
Promethium – Promethium is a radioactive element which is only formed by decay of much heavier objects. It’s known to be one of the rarest metals on the planet with only 500 grams known to be on the planet at a time. This means it has important applications such as use in nuclear batteries and a beta radiation source for thickness gauges. In the future people have predicted it could be used as a power source for satellites and space probes.
Cerium – Cerium is known to be one of the most abundant of the rare earth commodities with over 24,000 tons produced each year. It has many technical applications which proves it to be extremely useful. It’s mainly known for being a catalytic converter of automobiles thus reducing carbon emissions from the exhaust gas. Other uses include TV phosphors and carbon-arc lighting.
So there you have it. The main uses of the rare earth commodities that are found in today’s mines and ores. Each one has certain traits that distinguish it from another but besides that they all have important functions. You may not have heard about them much today but in the future as more uses are found, they will become a much bigger part of your life.
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