The Amazing Rubidium Essay Example

The Amazing Rubidium Essay To start off this amazing element has just a little bit of history to it. At first when I heard about this element I thought it was some type of gas but it can turn it to a liquid at a certain type of liquid. But is actually a very shiny type of metal. Rubidium was discovered by Kirchoff and Bunsen in 1861 through the use of a spectroscope. Rubidium metal can be made by minimizing rubidium chloride with calcium with other substances. The cost of this metal in small quantities is approximately 25 U. S. dollars a gram. This element is obtained in the earths crust which is very useful to people. It is the sixteenth most abundant element in the earth crusts which is very common. The exact atomic mass of Rubidium is 85. 4678. The color of this element is a silvery white. The odor of this element smells like a dense type of liquid metal. Rubidium can be both a liquid and a solid at room temperature. It reacts violently with potassium and caesium. This reaction is so strong that it is possible that usually it could light on fire to a yellowish color. Rubidium acts violently with many things like gold, cesium, sodium, and potassium. The density at room temperature of rubidium is exactly 1. 32g cm -3 and the density of rubidium at its liquid state is 1. 46g cm -3. The melting point of this element is 312. 46 K, 39. 31 C Â °, and 102. 76 Â ° F and the boiling point is 961 K, 688C Â °, and? 1270 Â ° F to be exact. Rubidium for me is a type of element that is very dramatic because it reacts with many other elements and is a good conductor of electricity which can generate an elec trical current. Rubidium can conduct electricity because its ions forms heat at a high temperature and goes through a magnetic field and therefore it is a good conductor of electricity. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amazing Rubidium specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Amazing Rubidium specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Amazing Rubidium specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The things that I think that’s interesting about rubidium are that it is used in vacuum tubes as a material that combines with and carries away gases from vacuum tubes. It is also used in the manufacture of photocells and in special types of glasses. Rubidium can be used as a propellant in ion engines on spacecraft which is awesome. Also, rubidium is used with CO2 which is used in very powerful types of guns. I was using rubidium all of this time and I didn’t even know. Another interesting thing about rubidium is that it was discovered by accident. While the German chemists Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchoff were analyzing amples of lepidolite with the spectroscope. Rubidium is such a good conductor of electricity that the electricity can travel at the speed of sound which is approximately 1300 meters a second. Rubidium reacts with many elements like mercury, gold, cesium, sodium, and potassium. Surprisingly rubidium can ignite if it comes in contact with air which will turn a yellowish color when ignited. Due to this it must always be kept inside things like dry mineral oil or in a vacuum. Rubidium is very flammable and can ignite with many things like air or hydrogen and it is not explosive. Rubidium is very poisonous and can possibly kill someone. If rubidium touches the heart it will immediately due to its poison. Rubidium is less poisonous then potassium though. It can affect the human by killing them or possibly sending them to the hospital. Rubidium is only dangerous to the environment when it comes in contact with air and other chemicals. Rubidium has many uses. It is a very good conductor of electricity; it is used to locate brain tumors, because of its slight radioactivity which is pretty cool. It is a working fluid in vacuum tubes. This element is used in atomic clocks because of its hyperfine structure energy levels. It can also be used as an ingredient in several special types of glass and a photocell component. Rubidium is has the highest room temperature conductivity of any ionic crystal. It is also used for film batteries and has the same conductivity of sulfuric acid at 20 Celsius. Rubidium’s vapor is use to make atomic magnetometers. Rb is currently being used, with other alkali metals, in the making of spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometers. Rubidium chloride is most likely the most-used compound in biochemistry to induce cells to take up DNA. Rubidium cannot possibly be recycled.