ElementsWhat is praseodymium?
Praseodymium is a soft, silvery metal of the lanthanide row. It was separated from a material once thought to be a single element.
What is praseodymium used for?
Strong magnets (with neodymium), yellow colour for glass and ceramics, and the glass in welders' goggles.
Where the name comes from
From Greek words meaning 'green twin', for its green salts.
Key facts
- Symbol
- Pr
- Atomic number
- 59
- Atomic mass
- 140.90766 u
- Family
- Lanthanide
- Period
- 6
- Group
- none (f-block)
- Block
- f
- State at room temperature
- Solid
- Melting point
- 930.9 °C (1,204 K, 1,708 °F)
- Boiling point
- 3,520 °C (3,793 K, 6,368 °F)
- Density
- 6.77 g/cm³
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 8, 18, 21, 8, 2
- Electron configuration
- [Xe]6s2 4f3
- Common oxidation states
- +3
- Electronegativity (Pauling)
- 1.13
- First ionisation energy
- 5.464 eV
- Electron affinity
- no value
- Atomic radius (van der Waals)
- 239 pm
- Discovered
- 1885
Place in the periodic table
Praseodymium is element number 59. 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 cerium (58), and just after it comes neodymium (60).
Family: Lanthanides.
Physical properties
At room temperature praseodymium is a solid. It melts at 930.9 °C and boils at 3,520 °C, so it stays liquid over a range of 2,589 degrees. Its density is 6.77 grams per cubic centimetre, so a one-litre block would weigh about 6.77 kilograms. By density it ranks 52nd among the 96 elements with a measured value.
Inside the atom
An atom of praseodymium has 59 protons in its nucleus and, when neutral, 59 electrons around it. The electrons are arranged in 6 shells: 2, 8, 18, 21, 8, 2. The outermost shell holds 2 electrons. Written in full, the electron configuration is [Xe]6s2 4f3.
Its electronegativity on the Pauling scale is 1.13. 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 5.464 electronvolts (about 527 kilojoules per mole). One mole of praseodymium weighs 140.90766 grams, so a single gram contains about 4.27 × 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 praseodymium 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.