"What's more brittle than a potato chip, but harder than the millenium? Thats right, you guessed it! It's..."

• History
• Characteristics
• Industrial Uses
• Atomic Structure
• Interesting Facts
• Glossary
• Bibliography

 Ruthenium is a rare, silvery white metal, found only in certain platinum compunds. It is not commonly thought of as a valuble or precious metal, and you may not have even heard of Ruthenium untill now. But Ruthenium is definatly one of the most interesting and useful elements on the periodic table. This extremely hard and brittle element will facinate and surprise you, so take a look at the links below to learn more about our new friend of the millenium...Ruthenium!

Ruthenium was first discovered in 1808 by J.A. Sniadecki, (1768-1838) a Polish chemist. He isolated ruthenium from several platinum ores but did not recognise it as an element. The official discovery of Ruthenium is more commonly atributed to Karl Karlovich Klaus. In 1844, this russian scientist isolated 6 grams of ruthenium from the part of crude platinum that is insoluble in aqua regia. He purified the metal and named it "ruthenium", which comes from the latin word "ruthenia", meaning Russia.

You might not think of Ruthenium as having much of a commercial value, but you will be surprised to know that it can be found in many of the products that you use every day. Because Ruthenium is so hard and brittle, it is impossible to work with in its pure state. But it makes a very effective hardener for other metals. It can be alloyed with platinum and palladium to make electrical contacts for severe wear resistance. Ruthenium can also be found in the tips of fountain pens, and is used in eye treatement. Ruthenium also makes a very versitile catalyst; it can be used to split hydregen sulphide. The corrosion resitance of titanium is improved a hundred times with an addition of only 0.1% ruthenium.Because this element is found only in ores and mixed with other elements such a rhodium, palladium, silver, platinum, and gold, the extraction of ruthenium is complex. Ruthenium is availible commercially for labritory samples, and is sold for $30 per gram.

Name: Ruthenium

Atomic Number: 44

Electrons: 44

Protons: 44

Neutrons: 57.1

Atomic Mass: 101.1 amu

Group/Family: 8

Period: 5

Classification: Transitional Metal

State: Solid/Metal

Color: Silvery white

Melting Point: 2250.0 °C (2523.15 °K)

Boiling Point: 3900.0 °C (4173.15 ° K)

Density @ 293 °K: 12.2 g/cm³

Hardness: 6.5 mohs

Abundance on Earth's Crust: -3 log

Atomic Structure

Nuber of electrons on each energy level:

1st Level = 2

2nd Level = 8

3rd Level = 18

4th Level = 15

5th Level = 1

Crystal Structure: Hexagonal

Isotope Range: 92-110

• Ruthenium was originally named Vesinium, after a planet named Vesta the turned out to be a large ateroid.
• Ruthenium is used in the jewelry industry to harden certain valuble metals. You could be wearing ruthenium around your neck right now!
• Ruthenium is unreactive with most substances, and only reacts with air below 800° C.
• Names in other languages:

Latin: Ruthenium

Czech: Ruthenium

Croatian: Rutenij

Italian: Rutenio

Portugues: Rutenio

Spanish: Rutenio

Swedish: Ruthenium

Insoluble: Incapable of being desolved in a liquid.

Catalyst: Something that hastens certain chemical reactions without being changes itself.

Ores: A mineral containing a valuable metallic or other constituent for which it is mined and worked.

amu: Atomic Mass Unit. The measure of weight in an atom.

Isotope: Atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons in the nucleus but different numbers of neutrons.

Web Sites:

Chemicool Periodic Table

Environmental Chemistry Periodic Table

Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements

Periodic Table

Periodic Table of the Elements

Pictorial Periodic Table

Web Elements Periodic Table

Books:

Todd, Robert W. Holt Science and Technology, Physical Science. Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Austin, Texas. 2001.