Abstract
IT is with great interest that I have read the communications of Dr. Coster and Prof. Hevesy in NATURE on the new element, hafnium. Under the title “Correlation of Atomic Structure and Spectra” (Journal American Chemical Society, xliv., p. 328, 1922) I discussed the properties of the unknown elements from the point of view of Bury's theory of atomic structure, and stated:” No. 72 possibly is Urbain's celtium. But Bury's arrangement gives the electron structure 2. 8. 18. 32. 8. 4 for this element, which is consequently tetravalent, while Urbain describes celtium as being intermediate in chemical character between Lu and Sc, both trivalent elements. A further investigation of the chemical properties and the X-ray spectrum of celtium is therefore desirable”. This article was received by the editors of the Journal, November 22, 1921, and, I believe, is the first published suggestion that the chemical properties of celtium as given by Urbain do not agree with theoretical considerations of atomic structure.
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KING, H. Hafnium and Celtium. Nature 112, 9 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112009b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112009b0
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