Lanthanide · element 57
Lanthanum
The hidden one. First of the rare earths.
Only 0.7% of people are Lanthanum. (estimated)
If you're Lanthanum
You are the first of a whole family and the one who quietly holds it together. Reactive, generous, easy to overlook next to your flashier relatives.
Lanthanum, 'the hidden one', was found tucked inside cerium, and it lives in the batteries of hybrid cars.
How to get along with Lanthanum
Do
- Notice them before the flashier relatives.
- Give them the family to hold together.
- Say what you need; they're generous but not psychic.
Don't
- Don't hide them inside someone else's story.
- Don't take the generosity as infinite.
When it goes wrong: They react with air if left out too long. Bring them in.
Atomic profile
Every element is placed on six personality dimensions derived from its chemistry. Your answers are placed on the same six, and the closest element wins. How the scoring works
- Reactivity
- 7
- Sociability
- 5
- Stability
- 9
- Energy
- 4
- Rarity
- 4
- Warmth
- 5
Lanthanum in literature
- Mr. Bennet — Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (1813)
- Amelia Sedley — Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray (1848)
- Nikolai Rostov — War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy (1869)
Characters from public-domain works, chosen for the same traits. Company, not a verdict.
Closest personalities
The elements whose profiles sit nearest to Lanthanum's. If you got Lanthanum, one of these was probably your runner-up.
Other lanthanides
CeCeriumPrPraseodymiumNdNeodymiumPmPromethiumSmSamariumEuEuropiumGdGadoliniumTbTerbiumDyDysprosiumHoHolmiumErErbiumTmThuliumYbYtterbiumLuLutetium