Rubidium Facts
Rubidium Facts
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| Interesting Rubidium Facts: |
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| Rubidium was discovered by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff in 1861. |
| The pair discovered rubidium spectroscopically, and named it for the red colored spectroscopic lines. |
| At the time, flame spectroscopy was a very new technology. |
| Rubidium is one of the most alkaline elements. |
| It spontaneously ignites in air. |
| Rubidium has a very violent reaction with water when it ignites the hydrogen that is freed during the reaction. |
| It oxidizes very quickly in air. |
| Rubidium is commonly used to alloy with gold, sodium, potassium, and caesium. |
| Rubidium has a comparatively low melting point, at just 39.3 degrees Celsius or 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit. |
| Rubidium is one of only twenty-six elements that only have one stable isotope, making is monoisotopic. |
| However, there are two isotopes, one stable and one radioactive. |
| The radioisotope has a half-life of 48,800,000,000 years, more than three times the estimated age of the entire universe. |
| When Rb-85 decays, it forms the stable isotope of strontium, Sr-87. |
| An additional twenty-four synthetic unstable isotopes of rubidium are known. |
| Rubidium is the twenty-third most common element in the Earth's crust. |
| There are several minerals which contain up to 1% of the oxide of rubidium. |
| Rubidium does not have a lot of industrial or commercial uses, so its mining is fairly limited. |
| Rubidium is most often produced as a byproduct of potassium or caesium production. |
| An average sized adult contains about .36 grams of rubidium in his body. |
| The human body treats rubidium as though it was potassium, so it is most often found within the cellular fluid. |
| Rubidium is actively absorbed by both plants and animals but does not seem to serve a vital purpose. |
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