Carl Gustaf Mosander
Encyclopedia
Carl Gustaf Mosander was a Swedish chemist
. He discovered the elements lanthanum
, erbium
and terbium
.
Mosander went to school in Kalmar until he moved to Stockholm
with his mother at age 12. There he became an apprentice at the Ugglan pharmacy. He took his pharmacy examination in 1817, but had an interest in medicine and matriculated as a student in the Karolinska Institute in 1820 and graduated with his Master of Surgery degree in 1824. He worked teaching chemistry at the Institute and as an assistant in the mineralogical collection of the Swedish Museum of Natural History
. Jöns Jakob Berzelius
was his teacher of chemistry during his medical studies, and in 1836 he succeeded him as professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the Karolinska Institute. Lanthanum was discovered in 1839 by Mosander, when he partially decomposed a sample of cerium nitrate by heating and treating the resulting salt with dilute nitric acid.
Mosander was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
in 1833.
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. He discovered the elements lanthanum
Lanthanum
Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is the first element of the lanthanide series. It is found in some rare-earth minerals, usually in combination with cerium and...
, erbium
Erbium
Erbium is a chemical element in the lanthanide series, with the symbol Er and atomic number 68. A silvery-white solid metal when artificially isolated, natural erbium is always found in chemical combination with other elements on Earth...
and terbium
Terbium
Terbium is a chemical element with the symbol Tb and atomic number 65. It is a silvery-white rare earth metal that is malleable, ductile and soft enough to be cut with a knife...
.
Mosander went to school in Kalmar until he moved to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
with his mother at age 12. There he became an apprentice at the Ugglan pharmacy. He took his pharmacy examination in 1817, but had an interest in medicine and matriculated as a student in the Karolinska Institute in 1820 and graduated with his Master of Surgery degree in 1824. He worked teaching chemistry at the Institute and as an assistant in the mineralogical collection of the Swedish Museum of Natural History
Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Swedish Museum of Natural History , in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg....
. Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Jöns Jacob Berzelius was a Swedish chemist. He worked out the modern technique of chemical formula notation, and is together with John Dalton, Antoine Lavoisier, and Robert Boyle considered a father of modern chemistry...
was his teacher of chemistry during his medical studies, and in 1836 he succeeded him as professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the Karolinska Institute. Lanthanum was discovered in 1839 by Mosander, when he partially decomposed a sample of cerium nitrate by heating and treating the resulting salt with dilute nitric acid.
Mosander was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
in 1833.