A silvery metal that tarnishes in air, burns easily and reacts with water.Scandium is mainly used for research purposes. It has, however, great potential because it has almost as low a density as aluminium and a much higher melting point. An aluminium-scandium alloy has been used in Russian MIG fighter planes, high-end bicycle frames and baseball bats.Scandium iodide is added to mercury vapour lamps to produce a highly efficient light source resembling sunlight. These lamps help television cameras to reproduce colour well when filming indoors or at night-time.The radioactive isotope scandium-46 is used as a tracer in oil refining to monitor the movement of various fractions. It can also be used in underground pipes to detect leaks.