Tb3 +

Before talking about the elements, the atom must be discussed first. Atoms are the building blocks of everything—from the structures of a building to a household pet. The idea of the atom was first suggested by Democritus, a Greek philosopher born in 460 BC. Democritus hypothesized “that atoms were indivisible and infinite in size and shape as well as firm and completely solid” and that they “existed in a void moving about combining and recombining” (European Graduate School). Later on, a scientist named John Dalton had a similar theory which became well known. In his theory he states that atoms cannot be divided, all atoms of an element must have the same mass and properties, atoms can be rearranged to form compounds and that a combinations …show more content…
In the industry, the ion of terbium, Tb3+ is mainly used. This cation is specifically used in high definition screens, indicating microbes, and cars. Tb3+ is used in color phosphors to make the green lighting that are typically in phone screens or television screens. In the biology field, Tb3+ is used as an indicator for microbes. When the sample is applied with Terbium Chloride, and placed under an ultraviolet light, if there are endospores present, the terbium will make the sample glow a green color. The endospores that are being indicated by the terbium ion are dormant structures created by certain types of bacteria to withstand lack of nutrients. Terbium is also used as a major component is hybrid cars. Because the industry requires magnets that are able to work at high temperatures, alloys of neomydium, terbium, and dysprosium are …show more content…
Constructing the Quantum Model of the Atom
Modeling is one of the main components in the scientific method. To understand how the orbitals functioned in an atom, we were assigned to build a quantum model of our given element. For the assignment, we had to represent at least three shells in or model and it had to be strong enough to hang on the ceiling.
The element I received was Terbium. Terbium is located in the sixth period and the lanthanide series. Because it was located in the lanthanide series, I had to research how to build the f-block orbitals. The f-block orbital is the most challenging orbital to build because it had so many complex components; it consisted of six lobes, and two rings. On my element, Terbium, I had to represent the 5p, 4f, and 6s orbitals on my quantum model. The most challenging part of building the quantum model was figuring out the shape of the orbitals and where to put the orbitals. As my teacher recommended, I first sketched out a diagram of my model using the information I knew. The main component of the quantum model is knowing the quantum numbers of the electrons in the last orbitals and how they apply to the orbitals. After figuring the quantum numbers, I was able to figure out the shape of the orbitals and where to build each one using the x, y, and z axis. After finalizing the sketch of my model, I had to decide on the materials to use for my