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- Name : Ruthenium
- Symbol : Ru
- Atomic # : 44
- Atom weight: 101.07
- Melting P. : 2310
- Boiling P. : 3900
- Oxidation : +3
- Pronounced : roo-THE-ni-em
- From : Latin Ruthenia, "Russia"
- Identified : Predicted by G. Wilhelm Osann in 1828
- Appearance : Rare, silver-gray, extremely brittle metal
- Note : Used to harden platinum and palladium
-
- [Properties]
-
- Ruthenium is a rare metal, occupying no more than 0.01 parts-per-million
- of the matter in the earth's crust. Whenever enough is put together in one
- place, it has a gray-white appearance and a hard, brittle character.
- At room temperature, ruthenium is impervious to virtually all acids,
- including aqua regia. It is vulnerable to alkalis, however, and it oxides
- explosively in the presence of potassium chloride.
- The high melting temperature and brittleness make it difficult to refine
- and cast into useful shapes, and these features seriously limit commercial
- applications.
- Ruthenium is a Group-VIII metal. There is some chemical similarity to
- iron (Fe), which is located directly above ruthenium on the periodic table
- of the elements. It is more like osmium (Os), though, which is located
- directly below it on the table.
-