Gadolinium appears in magnetic materials, specialized imaging compounds, and neutron-absorbing applications. Small additions can also improve the performance of iron and chromium alloys. These roles connect one lanthanide to several independent properties, making chemical form and the particular measurement essential parts of its description.
FROM ELEMENT TO APPLICATION
AN ELEMENT IN CONTEXT
How does a gadolinium formulation change MRI contrast without making MRI an X-ray technique?
Gadolinium ion held in a chelated formulation
FOLLOW THIS RELATIONSHIP
Hold the ion in a ligand
A gadolinium ion is held within a chelate. The imaging material is a molecular preparation rather than metal.
Explore the model (optional)
GdFORM → INTERACTION → CONSEQUENCE
Follow the explanation in either direction. These are authored steps, not a physical clock.
Optional: check your understanding
USE THE EXPLANATION
Which interaction is central to this contrast mechanism?
Atomic identity, reference properties and structure models
INTERACTIVE 3D64 visible sites
An electron censusDrag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom
[Xe] 4f7 5d1 6s2. Grouping electrons by principal shell connects the neutral-atom configuration to periodic-table patterns.
What this representation means
A three-dimensional counting diagram. Dots are count markers, not measured electron positions; spherical placement and spacing are arbitrary. There are no electron trajectories here. Orbitals describe quantum states.
Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac identified a new rare-earth constituent in 1880. Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran later investigated related material and introduced the name gadolinium in 1886. The name honors Johan Gadolin, whose earlier chemistry helped open the rare-earth field. This separates the person commemorated from the investigators responsible for identifying the element, a distinction that prevents names from becoming misleading discovery credits.
1880
New constituent recognized
Marignac identified the rare-earth element later named gadolinium.
Gadolinium is found with other rare-earth elements in minerals such as monazite and bastnaesite. It is ordinarily chemically combined, so a useful gadolinium material requires separation and conversion. An imaging formulation, absorber, and metal specimen may share an element while arising from different manufacturing paths.
Gadolinium-containing materials are important in magnetism and neutron interactions. In selected complexes, gadolinium influence the magnetic relaxation of nearby water . Neutron is a separate nuclear effect. Keeping those mechanisms distinct avoids confusing MRI contrast with or assuming that the metal and all its compounds are equivalent.
Each section links its supporting references. Descriptions and diagrams were authored for this atlas. Source checks completed. Source checks dated 2026-09-06.
CITE THIS PAGE
Family labels and the group-3 layout are teaching conventions. A table position does not establish an unknown bulk property. Electronic configurations refer to neutral atoms; ions and material environments require their own account.
Read each reference property together with its units, conditions and the reference information below.
Not yet recorded: electron affinity, second ionization energy, ground-state term symbol, van der waals radius, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, electrical resistivity, crystal structure, lattice parameter a, space group, abundance in seawater, abundance in the universe, annual production, supply-risk listing, hazard classification, biological role, cas registry number, pubchem cid, wikidata item. These families are declared and awaiting an ingestion run against the source each names; they are listed here rather than shown as empty rows.
Physical
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Phase at 20 °C
solid
293.15 K, 101.325 kPa
Melting point in K
1585 K
at standard pressure unless noted
Boiling point in K
3546 K
101.325 kPa
Density in g/cm³
7.89 g/cm³
solids and liquids at 293 K; gases at 273 K and 101.325 kPa
Atomic and electronic
Intended reference: Pauling electronegativity scale · Widely tabulated; original in The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Electronegativity in Pauling
1.2 Pauling
Pauling scale
First ionization energy in kJ/mol
593.4 kJ/mol
gas-phase neutral atom, ground state
Covalent radius in pm
196 pm
single-bond covalent radius
Common oxidation states
+3
states met in ordinary compounds; not exhaustive
Occurrence and identity
Intended reference: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics · CRC Press
Abundance in the crust in mg/kg
6.2 mg/kg
upper continental crust, mass fraction
Has stable isotopes
Yesderived
Discovery year in CE
1880 CEderived
WHERE IT SITS AMONG ITS NEIGHBORS
Electronegativity across period 6
Gd 1.2 Pauling · Gadolinium
Electronegativity across period 6. Exact values.
Cs
0.79
Ba
0.89
La
1.1
Ce
1.12
Pr
1.13
Nd
1.14
Sm
1.17
Eu
1.2
Gd
1.2
Tb
1.1
Dy
1.22
Ho
1.23
Er
1.24
Tm
1.25
Yb
1.1
Lu
1.27
Hf
1.3
Ta
1.5
W
2.36
Re
1.9
Os
2.2
Ir
2.2
Pt
2.28
Au
2.54
Hg
2
Tl
1.62
Pb
2.33
Bi
2.02
Po
2
At
2.2
The trend uses the same reference-property values as the periodic table. Elements with no recorded value are left out of the line rather than drawn at zero.
