What do the following ten chemical elements have in common?
All of these elements are rare earth elements, which means that they are very difficult to separate.
It took many chemists and scientists decades of research to discover them all.
The mine in Ytterby when it was still functioning, circa 1910.
It was named Yttrium (Y).
Over the next hundred years, nine more elements fell out of this ore.
In 1843 Carl Gustav Mosander discovered that Ytterbite was actually a mixture of three metal oxides.
One of these elements, Gadolinium (Gd), was named after Johan Gadolin.
The ore itself was renamed from Ytterbite to Gadolinite in Gadolins honor.
There is a small plaque on a rock near the mine commemorating the discoveries made here.
Some of the local streets in the village are also named after elements discovered here.
The periodic table of elements with the location of the ten elements highlighted.
Terbium is also used in fluorescent lamps, and in actuators in naval sonar systems and in sensors.
These clocks are more accurate than caesium atomic clock currently used to define the second.
Memorial plaque of the ASM International at Ytterby mine.
Photo credit:Uwezi/Wikimedia
Roads named after elements discovered in Ytterbys mine.
Photo credit:Uwezi/Wikimedia
Sources:MrReid.org/University of Melbourne/Wikipedia
