Like other rare-earth metals dysprosium can be found in various minerals such as xenotime, monazite, gadolinite. The name dysposium is derived from the Greek ‘dysprositos’, meaning hard to get because it is very hard to extract pure metal from its ore and separate it from other metals. Pure dysposium is a gray metal.
source/image(PrtSc): Thoisoi2 – Chemical Experiments!
Dysprosium is paramagnetic at room temperatures but if frozen to the temperature of liquid nitrogen it can become ferromagnetic. This property of the metal has applications in a special alloy called terfenol-d the formula of which you can see on your screen.read more: Thoisoi2 – Chemical Experiments!
This alloy has a unique property called magnetostriction. To put it simply, if a pole made of this alloy is inserted inside a copper wire coil and alternating current is passed through it, such a pole will be slightly lengthening upon magnetizing and shortening upon demagnetizing.
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In an alternating magnetic field the pole can quickly change its length and make vibrations that can turn into music! This is where this property of terfenol-d is used – in vibration speakers.via: Thoisoi2 – Chemical Experiments!
