OPOpenPithMake curiosity visibleCHEMISTRY LAB / 02

The Periodic Table

118 elements, raised by their properties.

Click an element to view its atom · drag to orbit · right-drag or two fingers to pan · scroll to zoom

About Scandium

Scandium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sc and atomic number 21. It is a silvery-white metallic element found in the d-block of the periodic table. Usually, it is classified as a rare-earth element, together with yttrium and the lanthanides. It was discovered in 1879 by spectral analysis of the minerals euxenite and gadolinite from Scandinavia.

Scandium is present in most of the deposits of rare-earth and uranium compounds, but it is extracted from these ores in only a few mines worldwide. Due to its low availability and difficulties in the preparation of metallic scandium, first done in 1937, applications for scandium were not developed until the 1970s, when the positive effects of scandium on aluminium alloys were discovered. Its use in such alloys remains its only major application. The global trade of scandium oxide is 15–20 tonnes per year.

The text above is from the lead of the Wikipedia article “Scandium” (retrieved 2026-11-05), used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Data and notes

Column height is a linear display mapping; the shortest column is not zero. Data: PubChem, IAEA.

Solid columns are measured, frosted glass is predicted, empty frames have no value.

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