Rubidium - expensive and not very useful
10/06/19 • 9 min
Rubidium is a reactive metal with few uses, named 'deepest red' due to its beautiful red spectral lines, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 72 of Elemental.
Rubidium is named after the Latin word rubidius, meaning 'deepest red.'
It is a group one metal, which makes it soft, highly reactive with water and with a low melting point.
Rubidium helped win a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for the discoverers of Bose-Einstein condensates, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 72 of Elemental.
Rubidium is a reactive metal with few uses, named 'deepest red' due to its beautiful red spectral lines, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 72 of Elemental.
Rubidium is named after the Latin word rubidius, meaning 'deepest red.'
It is a group one metal, which makes it soft, highly reactive with water and with a low melting point.
Rubidium helped win a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for the discoverers of Bose-Einstein condensates, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 72 of Elemental.
Previous Episode
Rhodium - used in cars, drugs... and aftershave
Rhodium is an expensive precious metal that is used in catalytic convertors, to make the Parkinson's drug L-DOPA, create shiny jewellery and add the menthol taste to toothpaste, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 71 of Elemental.
Rhodium is a very expensive precious metal, whose major use is in catalytic convertors, as it is very good at reducing levels of nitrogen oxides.
The metal is used in mirrors and optical fibres, and as it is very shiny it is sometimes used as a coating for jewellery made from cheaper metals.
Rhodium turns up in lip balm, cough remedies, toothpaste and aftershave, because rhodium catalysts are used to make synthetic menthol flavours, says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 71 of Elemental.
Next Episode
Ruthenium - a 'sort of' precious metal
Ruthenium is a 'sort of' precious metal that is a useful catalyst and alloy. It is toxic and smells like ozone, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 73 of Elemental.
Ruthenium is a rare transition metal produced mostly as a by-product of nickel mining.
It is not widely used industrially, although it is found in some catalysts and alloys. It is more useful in the chemistry laboratory, where it has helped several chemists win Nobel Prizes.
Ruthenium is toxic and if you have the bad fortune to be exposed to it, it smells of ozone says Professor Allan Blackman from the Auckland University of Technology, in episode 73 of Elemental.
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