Samarium

Samarium is a chemical element with symbol Sm and atomic number 62.

Contents

• Uses
• Benefits
• Cautions
• Interactions
• Other names
• References

Uses

• Samarium’s main use is in samarium-cobalt alloy magnets for headphones, small motors and pickups for some electric guitars. These magnets have a high resistance to demagnetization. They keep their ferromagnetism at temperatures up to 700 ^oC.  As a result of their ability to operate at high temperatures, SmCo magnets are used in precision-guided weapons.
• Samarium oxide (samaria) is used as a catalyst for the dehydration and dehydrogenation of ethanol. Samarium oxide is also used in infrared absorbing glass.
• Radioactive ¹⁵³Sm is used in the treatment of cancers.
• Samarium is also used as an absorber in nuclear reactors

Benefits

• The radioactive isotope samarium-153 is the major component of the drug samarium (¹⁵³Sm) lexidronam (Quadramet), which kills cancer cells in the treatment of lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and osteosarcoma.

Cautions

• Samarium is considered to be moderately toxic.

Interactions

n/a

Other names

Sm 62

References

Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarium

Chemicool, http://www.chemicool.com/elements/samarium.html