Name       : Scandium 
Symbol     : Sc
Atomic #   : 21
Atom weight: 44.9559
Melting P. : 1541
Boiling P. : 2836
Oxidation  : +3
Pronounced : SKAN-di-em
From       : Latin Scandia, Scandinavia
Identified : Predicted by Mendeleyev in 1871
Appearance : Fairly soft, silvery-white metal
Note       : Because of its light weight, 99% of scandium is used by the
             U.S. Air Force

[Properties]

  Scandium is a very lightweight, silvery white metal that is fairly soft.
It tarnishes slightly in air, taking on a yellow-pink hue. Scandium heads
up Group IIIB on the periodic table of the elements; more importantly, it
heads the list of 17 elements known as the rare-earth elements. (This name
for the group is no longer appropriate because most of them are available
in far greater quantities than originally supposed. Tradition prevails,
however!) Other rare earths belong to the lantranide series of elements,
atomic numbers 57 through 71.
  The rare-earth elements are all metals. They are all sufficiently
reactive that none exists in nature as the elemental metal. With the
notable exception of Scandium, rare-earth ores are found in mixtures of
four, five, or more. The rare earths are so similar that the processes for
separating them were not well developed until recently.
