Question: What is the heaviest lanthanide??
Answer:
What is the heaviest lanthanide?
All of the lanthanides form Ln2Q3 (Q= S, Se, Te).[15] The sesquisulfides can be produced by reaction of the elements or (with the exception of Eu2S3) sulfidizing the oxide (Ln2O3) with H2S.[15] The sesquisulfides, Ln2S3 generally lose sulfur when heated and can form a range of compositions between Ln2S3 and Ln3S4. The sesquisulfides are insulators but some of the Ln3S4 are metallic conductors (e.g. Ce3S4) formulated (Ln3+)3 (S2−)4 (e−), while others (e.g. Eu3S4 and Sm3S4) are semiconductors.[15] Structurally the sesquisulfides adopt structures that vary according to the size of the Ln metal. The lighter and larger lanthanides favoring 7-coordinate metal atoms, the heaviest and smallest lanthanides (Yb and Lu) favoring 6 coordination and the rest structures with a mixture of 6 and 7 coordination.[15] Polymorphism is common amongst the sesquisulfides.[52] The colors of the sesquisulfides vary metal to metal and depend on the polymorphic form. The colors of the γ-sesquisulfides are La2S3, white/yellow; Ce2S3, dark red; Pr2S3, green;  Nd2S3, light green; Gd2S3, sand; Tb2S3, light yellow and Dy2S3, orange.[53] The shade of γ-Ce2S3 can be varied by doping with Na or Ca with hues ranging from dark red to yellow,[43][53] and Ce2S3 based pigments are used commercially and are seen as low toxicity substitutes for cadmium based pigments.[53]
Yb