• They lie between groups II and III
• They form colored ions
• They have high melting points and tensile strength due to their metallic nature
• They possess variable oxidation states from +2 to +7
• They exists as catalysts
• They form paramagnetic compounds i.e they form compounds that are atracted to magnetic field
• They are all electropositive

They are silver-colored metals that are reactive in nature. Lanthanides are a series of chemical elements found in the periodic table, specifically from atomic number 57 (lanthanum, La) to 71 (lutetium, Lu). These elements are often referred to as the "rare earth elements" because they were historically difficult to separate from one another. They have one element in their d block and completely filled f-block. They share the same metallic properties.

They possess similar properties with actinides. They are placed in period 6 with members starting from Actinium to Lawrencium. They are also called inner transition metals. Members of this period after Uranium are artificial elements because they are radioactive. Uranium is an important member in this period which is used in nuclear reactions.

Within the second and third periods of the periodic table, there exists similar properties between diagonal pairs of elements. This is known as diagonal relationship. These pairs include (lithium (Li) and magnesium (Mg), beryllium (Be) and aluminium (Al), boron (B) and silicon (Si), etc.). For example, boron and silicon are both semiconductors, forms halides that are hydrolyzed in water and have acidic oxides. Another example is seen in Magnesium and Lithium which have similar chemical properties. This is due to factors like similarity in ionic pote, atomic radius etc