Rare earth elements

By Tom Westgate2011-03-01T11:43:00

Source: Shutterstock

They sit at the bottom of the periodic table like they don’t belong, but these elements are vital ingredients in many gadgets and ‘green’ technologies. Tom Westgate finds out what makes them so versatile and valuable.

The rare earth elements (REEs) play a central role in many of the technologies and gadgets that we take for granted. Your hard drive uses a magnet containing neodymium to access data and your LCD TV or monitor probably relies on terbium and europium to generate its vivid colours. In the near future, all these may be powered by electricity generated by a neodymium-based magnet spinning in a wind turbine.

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