nPostednon January 23, 2015
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nHavenyou ever heard of the platinum group?
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nI’mnnot talking about a rock band that has had loads of platinum recordsn(like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones). n
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nInstead,nI’m talking about a group of metals that hang out together on thenperiodic table. These metals are dense and generally inert to mostnchemicals. That means that they don’t easily react with othernsubstances.
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nThisnmakes these metals highly resistant to wear and tarnish. Chemicals,nhot temperatures, electricity—these metals tend to be quite stablenno matter what we throw at them. All of these characteristics makenthe platinum group metals useful to humans!
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nToday’snbirthday boy (born on this date in 1796) was a chemist who discoverednthe last of the platinum group metals. He was Russian, and he namednhis discovery Ruthenium, which basically was a way of honoring hisnhomeland.
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nBynthe way, Karl’s name is sometimes seen as Karl Klaus and Carl Claus.nIf you are wondering what the REAL spelling is…well, he wasnRussian, so here it is: КарлnКа́рлович Кла́ус.
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Ruthenium’snchemical symbol is Ru, and its atomic number is 44. That means thatnthere are 44 protons in each and every atom of ruthenium…and 44nelectrons in non-ionized atoms, as well.
Ruthenium’snchemical symbol is Ru, and its atomic number is 44. That means thatnthere are 44 protons in each and every atom of ruthenium…and 44nelectrons in non-ionized atoms, as well. n
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nThe atomic mass is annaverage. The periodic table give ruthenium’s atomic mass as 101.07,nso most ruthenium atoms must have 57 neutrons. Some isotopes havenfrom 53 to 58 neutrons.
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n(Isotopesnare forms of an element that have different numbers of neutrons inntheir nuclei. They are the same in their chemical properties, butndifferent in weight or mass.)
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| Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt are the platinum group. They are ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum. They make a square in the middle of yellow “transition metals.” |
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nTonlearn more about elements and the Periodic Table,ncheck out this earlier postn(scroll down to find links to the Element Song), or this earlier postn(scroll down to the cool Interactive Periodic Table of Elements), or this earlier postn(with an even better, even more interactive, Periodic Table).
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the creation of Liechtenstein
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nNationalnHandwriting Day
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nAnniversarynof the partitioning of Poland
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nAnniversarynof the coldest temperature in the U.S.
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuaryn holidays
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in January
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nFebruaryn holidays
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nFebruaryn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in February
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