Ytterbium is a member of the lanthanide series of elements, which stretches from lanthanum (La) to lutetium (Lu).

The element was discovered by Marignac, who also discovered gadolinium, in 1878.

The element was one of 4 elements (yttrium, erbium, terbium, and ytterbium) named for Ytterby, a town on the west coast of Sweden.

Ytterbium was the first lanthanide element discovered. However, it was not really purified until much later (1907; see lutetium).

The metal is silvery and very soft. When the metal is freshly cut, the surface is shiny, but Yb slowly reacts with air and moisture, dulling the surface. (See potassium for a similar reaction). It also reacts readily with mineral acids to give Yb(III) salts. In the solid state, the metal has a face-centered cubic structure.

Like a number of the other lanthanides, ytterbium can be obtained from the mineral monazite, a mixture of the phosphates of Ca, Th, and Ce and other lanthanides.

It can be made by reducing a ytterbium halide with an active metal at high temperature in an inert atmosphere.

2 Ca(s) + 2 YbF₃(s) 2 Yb(s) + 3 CaF₂(s)