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The mineralogy of Erbium

General Properties
Symbol:	Er
Atomic Number:	68
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	167.259(3)
Electron configuration:	[Xe] 4f¹² 6s²

Photos

<	Ultrapure erbium with cut traces	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	1.24
Atomic Radius:	226 pm
Ionic Radius:	89 pm (+3)
1st Ionization energy:	589 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:	-50 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	3

Physical Properties
Standard State:	solid
Bonding Type:	metallic
Melting Point:	1770 K
Boiling Point:	3141 K
Density:	9.07 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	lanthanoid

Main isotopes of Erbium
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
¹⁶⁰Er	synthetic	28.58h	ε	¹⁶⁰Ho
¹⁶²Er	0.139%	>1.4×10¹⁴y	α ?	¹⁵⁸Dy
¹⁶²Er	0.139%	>1.4×10¹⁴y	β+β+ ?	¹⁶²Dy
¹⁶⁴Er	1.601%	-	α ?	¹⁶⁰Dy
¹⁶⁴Er	1.601%	-	β+β+ ?	¹⁶⁴Dy
¹⁶⁵Er	synthetic	10.36h	ε	¹⁶⁵Ho
¹⁶⁶Er	33.503%	-	α ?	¹⁶²Dy
¹⁶⁷Er	22.869%	-	α ?	¹⁶³Dy
¹⁶⁸Er	synthetic	9.4d	β−	¹⁶⁹Tm
¹⁷⁰Er	14.910%	>3.2×10¹⁷y	α ?	¹⁶⁶Dy
¹⁷⁰Er	14.910%	>3.2×10¹⁷y	β-β- ?	¹⁷⁰Yb
¹⁷¹Er	synthetic	7.516h	β−	¹⁷¹Tm
¹⁷²Er	synthetic	49.3h	β−	¹⁷²Tm

Main ions of Erbium
Name	Ion	Example minerals
erbium(III)	Er³

Other Information
Year Discovered:	1842
Discovered By:	Carl Gustaf Mosander
Named For:	the village of Ytterby in Sweden
CPK color coding:	#006E75
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds
Nitrides	erbium nitride	ErN	+3
Sulfides	erbium sulphide	ErS	+2
Sulfides	dierbium trisulphide	Er₂S₃	+3
Selenides	dierbium triselenide	Er₂Se₃	+3
Tellurides	erbium telluride	ErTe	+2
Tellurides	dierbium tritelluride	Er₂Te₃	+3
Hydrides	erbium trihydride	ErH₃	+3
Fluorides	erbium trifluoride	ErF₃	+3
Chlorides	erbium trichloride	ErCl₃	+3
Chlorides	erbium trichloride hexahydrate	ErCl₃ · 6H₂O	+3
Iodides	erbium triiodide	ErI₃	+3
Oxides	dierbium trioxide	Er₂O₃	+3

Geochemistry of Erbium
Goldschmidt classification:	Lithophile
Er³⁺ was one of the ions least depleted from the mantle in the formation of the crust.
Er³⁺ is enriched in Ca-Al-rich inclusions in meteorites relative to the composition of the solar system.
Er³⁺ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)

Elemental Abundance for Erbium
Crust (CRC Handbook)	3.5 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	3.6 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	3.5 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	2.200 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	3.390 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)	2.300 x 10^-6	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	8.7 x 10^-13	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	8.7 x 10^-12	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)	2.4 x 10^-7	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	2.5 x 10^-7	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	2.508 x 10^-7 (1.3%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Erbium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Erbium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements. The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Erbium and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Erbium. The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row. Click on a heading to sort.

Element	Valid Minerals listed with element and Erbium	% of Er minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Hydrogen	1 mineral with Er and H	100.00%	79.28% higher
Oxygen	1 mineral with Er and O	100.00%	23.22% higher
Silicon	1 mineral with Er and Si	100.00%	261.90% higher
Yttrium	1 mineral with Er and Y	100.00%	4,237.76% higher
Carbon	1 mineral with Er and C	100.00%	1,121.06% higher
Calcium	1 mineral with Er and Ca	100.00%	302.01% higher
Ytterbium	1 mineral with Er and Yb	100.00%	103,283.33% higher

Periodic Table

2He

3Li

4Be

Show/hide current element

Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Er Relative Frequency

Holmium << Erbium >> Thulium

Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.
Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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