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Element 68, a lanthanide
A rare earth that amplifies the light carrying the internet under the oceans.
Period 6, in the lanthanide row set below the main table. The other lanthanides are tinted, and every cell opens its own article.
Like the other lanthanides, it gives up three electrons to form the Er³⁺ ion in most of its compounds.
Found in xenotime, gadolinite and euxenite, and in the ion-adsorption clays of southern China.
Carl Gustaf Mosander found it in 1843 in yttria from Ytterby, together with terbium, and it was named after the village.
Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers boost the light signals in long-distance fiber-optic cables, including those under the oceans, without converting them to electricity. Erbium also colors glass and cubic zirconia pink, and erbium lasers are used in skin treatments and dentistry.