Who discovered the element scandium?

Lars Fredrik Nilson (27 May 1840 – 14 May 1899) was a Swedish chemist, professor at Uppsala University, and later Director of the Agricultural Chemical Experiment Station at the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in Stockholm.

He was studying the rare earth elements, attempting to isolate ytterbium from the minerals euxenite and gadolinite. Part of Nilson’s method required the preparation of erbia (erbium oxide) from the minerals, which was then reacted to form erbium nitrate. He applied heat to the nitrate and found that his sample contained small quantities of an unknown element with a low atomic weight.

Spectral analysis showed 30 unique spectral lines, proving the existence of the new element. Nilson named the element scandium after the Latin word "Scanda" meaning Scandinavia. He studied scandium and determined its atomic weight was 44.

It's a soft, light, silvery-white metal, which becomes slightly tinged with yellow or pink when exposed to air. It's almost as light (low density) as aluminum but it has a much higher melting point.

It's used in aluminum-scandium alloys for aerospace industry components and for sports equipment such as bicycle frames, fishing rods, golf iron shafts and baseball bats.

Scandium iodide is used in mercury vapor lamps, which are used to replicate sunlight in studios for the film and television industry. Very dilute scandium sulfate is used to improve the germination of seeds such as corn, peas and wheat.