Rare earth metals are a collective term for 17 metal elements in Group IIIB of the periodic table, including lanthanides (atomic numbers 57-71) and scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y) with similar chemical properties, abbreviated as RE or R. Including lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y).
