Decipium
Encyclopedia
Decipium was the proposed name for a new chemical element isolated by Marc Delafontaine
from the mineral samarskite
. He published his discovery in 1878 and a followup paper in 1881. Later it was shown that decipium was a mixture of samarium
and other rare earth elements.
Marc Delafontaine
Marc Delafontaine was a Swiss chemist who in 1878, along with Jacques-Louis Soret, first observed holmium spectroscopically. In 1879, Per Teodor Cleve chemically separated it from thulium and erbium. The three are given credit for the element's discovery....
from the mineral samarskite
Samarskite
Samarskite is a radioactive rare earth mineral series which includessamarskite- with formula: 22O8and samarskite- with formula 22O8 The formula for smarskite- is also given as: O4...
. He published his discovery in 1878 and a followup paper in 1881. Later it was shown that decipium was a mixture of samarium
Samarium
Samarium is a chemical element with the symbol Sm, atomic number 62 and atomic weight 150.36. It is a moderately hard silvery metal which readily oxidizes in air. Being a typical member of the lanthanide series, samarium usually assumes the oxidation state +3...
and other rare earth elements.