More Images Promethium
Chemical element with the atomic number of 61
Promethium is a chemical element with symbol Pm and atomic number 61. All of its isotopes are radioactive; it is extremely rare, with only about 500–600 grams naturally occurring in the Earth's crust at any given time. Promethium is one of the only two radioactive elements that are both preceded and followed in the periodic table by elements with stable forms, the other being technetium. Chemically, promethium is a lanthanide. Promethium shows only one stable oxidation state of +3. In 1902 Bohuslav Brauner suggested that there was a then-unknown element with properties intermediate between those of the known elements neodymium and samarium; this was confirmed in 1914 by Henry Moseley, who, having measured the atomic numbers of all the elements then known, found that the element with atomic number 61 was missing. In 1926, two groups claimed to have isolated a sample of element 61; both "discoveries" were soon proven to be false. Wikipedia