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- Name : Iridium
- Symbol : Ir
- Atomic # : 77
- Atom weight: 192.2
- Melting P. : 2410
- Boiling P. : 4130
- Oxidation : +3, +4
- Pronounced : i-RID-i-em
- From : Latin iris, "rainbow"
- Identified : Smithson Tennant in 1803
- Appearance : White, brittle metal
- Note : Most corrosion-resistant of all known metals
-
- [Properties]
-
- Iridium is one of the heaviest of the Group-VIII metals. Being in Group-
- VIII puts it in the company of blue-chip commercial metals such as
- manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, lead, and platinum.
- When iridium is cast from its molten state, it cools to a crystalline
- from that makes it rather ductile. In this state, it can be drawn into
- wire or pressed into sheets. Whereas most other metals, notably steel,
- becomes less brittle after annealing (heating and slowly cooling), iridium
- becomes brittle and completely unworkable.
- Iridium is known as a platinum metal because it is found in natural
- deposits of platinum. Iridium's twin element, osmium (Os, element 76), is
- found there, too; so osmium, iridium, and platinum are found together,
- both in nature and on the periodic table of elements.
-