A silvery metallic chemical element with the symbol Y and atomic number 39, used in various alloys and electronic applications.
Named after Ytterby, a village in Sweden where the mineral containing this element was first discovered in 1787. The element was isolated by Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843. The name follows the Latin naming convention for chemical elements, with the suffix '-ium' added to the place name.
This element shares its name with three other rare earth elements (ytterbium, erbium, and terbium) all named after the same tiny Swedish village of Ytterby - making this village the most element-rich place name in the periodic table! The village's name literally means 'outer village' in Swedish.
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