• Question: How old did Praseodymium exist, when did it start existing and when was it found?

    Asked by to Dre, Charli, Heather, Oliver, Becky on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Charlotte Flavell

      Charlotte Flavell answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi raiden9080,

      Praseodymium was first discovered, along with another metal called neodymium, in 1885, making it 129 years old (well, that’s when it was discovered – it still existed before then – we just didn’t know about it).

      When praseodymium is pure, it looks like a soft, silvery metal, but when it mixes with oxygen, it goes green. The name praseodymium actually comes from the Greek word for green.

    • Photo: Rebecca Williams

      Rebecca Williams answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi raiden9080,
      All the elements in the universe are made when stars die. So, Praseodymium has existed for as long as stars have existed and died. This means that it has existed for billions of years!

      The Universe is 15 billion years old. At the very beginning, there was only hydrogen and helium. These two elements joined together to make stars. It takes the heat released when a star dies to make all the other elements such as Praseodymium.

      Prof Brian Cox tells us all about how stars make elements here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/how-are-elements-made/12234.html
      (did you know, when I was at school, Brian Cox was in a pop band! 😮 )

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