Ruthenium

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Ruthenium
Properties
Atomic symbol	Ru
Atomic number	44
Classification	Transition Metals
Atomic mass	101.07 amu
Other Information
Date of discovery	1844
Name of discoverer	Karl Klaus (Polish chemist Jędrzej Śniadecki isolated element 44 in 1807. However his work was never verified, and he later withdrew his claim.)
Name origin	From Ruthenia, the Latin name of Russia.
Uses	Used to harden platinum and palladium. Also used in eye treatments, fountain pen tips, and electrical contacts.
Obtained from	Produced as a by-product of nickel refining.

Ruthenium (roo-THE-nee-em) is a shiny, silvery metal.

History[edit]

Jedrzej Sniadecki, a Polish chemist, discovered ruthenium in platinum ores from South America in May 1808, and called it vestium. However, French chemists tried to reproduce his work but were unable to find it in the platinum ore they had. Because of this, Sniadecki thought he must have been mistaken and took back his clam.^[1]

Then, Gottfried Osann investigated some platinum from the Ural mountains, and reported finding three new elements which he named pluranium, polinium, and ruthenium in 1825. While the first two of these were never verified, but the third was genuine. In 1840 Karl Karlovich Klaus extracted, purified, and confirmed it was a new metal. He chose to keep Osann’s name for it, ruthenium.^[2][3]

Additional Properties[edit]

Melting Point: 4233 °F (2334 °C or 2607 K)

Boiling Point: 7502 °F (4150 °C or 4423 K)

Density: 12.1 grams per cubic centimeter^[4]

Ruthenium is believed to be carcinogenic (that is, it can cause cancer). Also, Ruthenium tetroxide (RuO4) is very toxic.^[5]

Uses[edit]

Ruthenium is primarily used in making alloys. Adding just 0.1% ruthenium to titanium makes the titanium 100 times more resistant to corrosion. Small amounts of ruthenium are added to platinum and palladium to strengthen them. These alloys are used in jewelry and in electrical contacts that must resist wear. It is also useful as a catalyst is a number of chemical reactions.^[6]

See also[edit]

• Precious metal

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• http://www.chemicool.com/elements/ruthenium.html
• http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/44/ruthenium

Periodic Table of the Elements
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
1 H 1.008																	2 He 4.003
3 Li 6.939	4 Be 9.0122											5 B 10.811	6 C 12.011	7 N 14.007	8 O 15.999	9 F 18.998	10 Ne 10.183
11 Na 22.99	12 Mg 24.312											13 Al 26.982	14 Si 28.086	15 P 30.974	16 S 32.064	17 Cl 35.453	18 Ar 39.948
19 K 39.102	20 Ca 40.08	21 Sc 44.956	22 Ti 47.9	23 V 50.942	24 Cr 51.996	25 Mn 54.938	26 Fe 55.847	27 Co 58.933	28 Ni 58.71	29 Cu 63.546	30 Zn 65.37	31 Ga 69.72	32 Ge 72.59	33 As 74.922	34 Se 78.96	35 Br 79.904	36 Kr 83.8
37 Rb 85.47	38 Sr 87.62	39 Y 88.905	40 Zr 91.22	41 Nb 92.906	42 Mo 95.94	43 Tc [97]	44 Ru 101.07	45 Rh 102.91	46 Pd 106.4	47 Ag 107.87	48 Cd 112.4	49 In 114.82	50 Sn 118.69	51 Sb 121.75	52 Te 127.6	53 I 126.9	54 Xe 131.3
55 Cs 132.91	56 Ba 137.34	57* La 138.91	72 Hf 178.49	73 Ta 180.95	74 W 183.85	75 Re 186.2	76 Os 190.2	77 Ir 192.2	78 Pt 195.09	79 Au 196.97	80 Hg 200.59	81 Tl 204.37	82 Pb 207.19	83 Bi 208.98	84 Po 210	85 At 210	86 Rn 222
87 Fr 215	88 Ra 226.03	89** Ac 227.03	104 Rf [261]	105 Db [262]	106 Sg [266]	107 Bh [264]	108 Hs [265]	109 Mt [268]	110 Dt [271]	111 Rg [272]	112 Cn [277]	113 Nh [284]	114 Fv [289]	115 Mc [288]	116 Lv [292]	117 Ts [293]	118 Og [294]
*Lanthanides		58 Ce 140.12	59 Pr 140.91	60 Nd 144.24	61 Pm 145	62 Sm 150.35	63 Eu 151.96	64 Gd 157.25	65 Tb 158.92	66 Dy 162.5	67 Ho 164.93	68 Er 167.26	69 Tm 168.93	70 Yb 173.04	71 Lu 174.97
**Actinides		90 Th 232.04	91 Pa 231	92 U 238.03	93 Np 237.05	94 Pu 239.05	95 Am 241.06	96 Cm 244.06	97 Bk 249.08	98 Cf 252.08	99 Es 252.08	100 Fm 257.1	101 Md 258.1	102 No 259.1	103 Lr 262.11