ElementsWhat is dysprosium?
Dysprosium is a bright, silvery metal of the lanthanide row.
What is dysprosium used for?
Added to neodymium magnets so they keep their strength when hot, as in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines.
Where the name comes from
From the Greek word dysprositos, hard to get.
Key facts
- Symbol
- Dy
- Atomic number
- 66
- Atomic mass
- 162.500 u
- Family
- Lanthanide
- Period
- 6
- Group
- none (f-block)
- Block
- f
- State at room temperature
- Solid
- Melting point
- 1,412 °C (1,685 K, 2,573 °F)
- Boiling point
- 2,567 °C (2,840 K, 4,652 °F)
- Density
- 8.55 g/cm³
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 8, 18, 28, 8, 2
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f10
- Common oxidation states
- +3
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- 1.22
- First ionisation energy
- 5.939 eV
- Electron affinity
- no value
- Atomic radius (van der Waals)
- 229 pm
- Discovered
- 1886
Place in the periodic table
Dysprosium is element number 66. It sits in period 6 (row 6) of the periodic table, in the separate row of lanthanides drawn below the main table, and belongs to the f-block. Just before it comes terbium (65), and just after it comes holmium (67).
Family: Lanthanides.
Physical properties
At room temperature dysprosium is a solid. It melts at 1,412 °C and boils at 2,567 °C, so it stays liquid over a range of 1,155 degrees. Its density is 8.55 grams per cubic centimetre, so a one-litre block would weigh about 8.55 kilograms. By density it ranks 38th among the 96 elements with a measured value.
Inside the atom
An atom of dysprosium has 66 protons in its nucleus and, when neutral, 66 electrons around it. The electrons are arranged in 6 shells: 2, 8, 18, 28, 8, 2. The outermost shell holds 2 electrons. Written in full, the electron configuration is [Xe]6s2 4f10.
Its electronegativity on the Pauling scale is 1.22. This number shows how strongly an atom pulls shared electrons towards itself: fluorine, the strongest, is 3.98. Removing one electron from an atom takes 5.939 electronvolts (about 573 kilojoules per mole). One mole of dysprosium weighs 162.500 grams, so a single gram contains about 3.71 × 1021 atoms.
The ring picture is a simple model that only counts the electrons in each shell. Real atoms do not look like this.
Next steps
- Work out the weight of a compound that contains dysprosium with the molar mass calculator.
- Compare it with every other element in the sortable list.
- Test yourself with the symbol quiz.
Figures on this page are from PubChem (U.S. National Library of Medicine), as downloaded on 11 November 2026. See About and data sources.