Samarium's atomic number is 62 and its symbol is Sm. Samarium is named after the mineral that it was isolated from, “samarskite”. It closely resembles the other lanthanide elements in most ways including being fairly hard, silver in color, and oxidizable.

Samarium is most commonly used to make samarium-cobalt magnets which are the second strongest permanent magnets behind neodymium magnets. However, the magnets that are produced with samarium are able to withstand high temperatures which makes them useful for electrically powered aircraft. Radioactive forms of samarium are used to kill cancer cells in the treatment of lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and osteosarcoma.