Sometimes naming an element is difficult and the discoverer would name it after the place where it was discovered. Our next element is an example. The name scandium comes from the Latin word ‘Scandia’, which stands for Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe. The element was named after its first discovery in this region; and not many places outside the Scandinavian Peninsula have deposits of this element.
Scandium is a fairly rare element. It is the 50th most common element in the Earth, and is generally found in small amounts in minerals. The element is very expensive due to its rarity.
It is a light metal. Scandium is used in baseball bats because the element increases the bat’s striking power. It is also used in the manufacture of bright lights. Stadiums, sporting events, and movie production units make use of these lights. However, its cost is a discouraging factor and hence its popularity has severely suffered.
It is Lars Fredrik Nelson, a Swedish chemist, who discovered scandium in 1879. Dmitri Mendeleev, referred to as the father of the periodic table, had predicted the existence of the element ten years before its actual discovery. Atomic number of this element is 21, and the symbol is Sc.
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