YTTRIUM, 355 



YTTRIUM. 



All the regular determinations of the atomic ■weight of 3'ttrium depend 

 ui)on analj'ses or syntheses of the sulphate. A series of analyses of the 

 oxalate, however, hy Berlin,* is sometimes cited, and the data are as ibl- 

 lows. In three ex})eriments upon the salt Yt,(C,0^\ oH^O the subjoined 

 percentages of oxide were found : 



45.70 



45-65 



45-72 



Mean, 45.69, zb .0141 

 Hence with O = 15.879 and C = 11.920, 



Yt = 88.943. 



Ignoring the early work of Berzelius,t the determinations to he con- 

 sidered are those of Popp, Delafontaine, Bahr and Bunsen, Cleve, and 

 Jones. 



PojDp X evidentl}^ worked with material not wholly free from earths of 

 higher molecular Aveight than 3'ttria. The yttrium sulphate was deh}^- 

 drated at 200° ; the sulphuric acid was then estimated as barium sul- 

 }ihate, and after the excess of barium in the filtrate had been removed 

 the yttrium was thrown down as oxalate and ignited to 3deld oxide- 

 The following are the weights given by Popp : 



Eliminating water, these figures give us for the percentages of Yt.,03 in 

 Yt/SO^)., the values in column A. In column B I put the quantities of 

 YtjjOs proportional to 100 parts of BaSO^ : 



A. B. 



51.237 36-075 



51.226 36.064 



51. 161 36.058 



51.209 36.055 



Mean, 51.208, zi= .011 Mean, 36.063, =t .003 



From B, Yt = 101.54. The values in A will l)e combined with similar 



data from other experimenters. 



• 



* Forhaudlingar ved de Skandinaviske Naturforskeres, R, 452. i860. 



tLehrbucb, V Aufl., 3, 1225. 



t.'^nn. Chem. Phanii., 131, 179. iSj^. 



