Ruthenium

Description

A grayish-white metallic element that was discovered in 1844 by Karl Klaus of Russia. Ruthenium is a rare element that has an abundance of only 0.4 ppb in the earth's crust. It is found in platinum ores and osmiridium. Ruthenium is most often used as a hardener in alloys with platinum, palladium, cobalt, nickel, or tungsten. These hard alloys are used for jewelry, pen nibs, electrical contacts, and as nonmagnetic instrument pivots.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Ru; ruthénium (Fr.); rutenio (It., Esp.); Rutênio (Port.); Rutenium (Sven.)

Other Properties

Attacked by alkalis. Insoluble in acids

Composition	Ru (atomic no. 44)
CAS	7440-18-8
Mohs Hardness	6.5
Melting Point	2310
Density	12.41
Molecular Weight	atomic wt = 101.07
Boiling Point	3900-4110

Hazards and Safety

Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 683

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 8452; states discovered in 1828 by osann and prepared in pure form by Klaus in 1845

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Website address 1 Comment: Web elements at http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Ru/hist.html gives discovery by Karl Karlovich Klaus in 1844

• Chemical & Engineering News, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, 81 (36) , Sept. 8, 2003 Comment: Robert H. Grubbs, p. 112, states discovered by Karl Karlovich Klaus, a Russian chemist, in 1844