Ruthenium Facts
Ruthenium Facts
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| Interesting Ruthenium Facts: |
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| In 1844, Karl Ernst Claus discovered ruthenium in the platinum remainder of rouble production. |
| It is a transition metal, and is considered very rare. |
| Only around twenty tons of ruthenium are produced annually. |
| Ruthenium is sometimes used in platinum alloys. |
| Its most common purpose is for creating a coating of wear-resistance. |
| When it is added to titanium, ruthenium causes a corrosion-resistant property. |
| It is also a superconductor below ten degrees Kelvin when alloyed with molybdenum. |
| Ruthenium is the only group 8 element to not have two electrons in its outer shell. |
| Ruthenium does not tarnish under normal temperature conditions. |
| There are seven natural, stable isotopes of ruthenium. |
| There are also thirty-four radioisotopes. |
| The most stable of ruthenium's radioactive isotopes has a half-life of only 373 days. |
| Most of ruthenium's other radioisotopes have half-lives of less than five minutes. |
| Ruthenium is the seventy-fourth most common metal on Earth. |
| Ruthenium is typically mined from ores of other platinum group metals, and most often from the mineral pentlandite. |
| Only about twelve tons of ruthenium is extracted annually. |
| The percentage of ruthenium in the platinum ores that are mined varies greatly depending on the global location of the mine. |
| Like other members of the platinum group, ruthenium is also a result of the mining of copper and nickel. |
| Noble metals and platinum group metals like ruthenium gather at the bottom of the container during the electrorefining of both nickel and copper. |
| This material is known as anode mud, and can be a source of ruthenium. |
| Ruthenium can also be extracted from nuclear waste such as uranium-235. |
| Ruthenium is being researched for its possible applications in solar energy technology. |
| It is also being studied for its potential in creating a magnetoresistant component of computer hard drives. |
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