Download Element Symbol: Rb Atomic Number: 37 Atomic Weight: 85.4678(3)

Element Symbol:
Atomic Number:
Atomic Weight:
Rb
37
85.4678(3)
Picture of your element(as an element):
Picture of the element(as it is commonly used):
Rubidium is commonly used
to make purple fireworks.
State of matter at room temperature: Liquid
Melting point temperature: 39.31°C
Boiling point temperature: 688°C
Density: 1.532 g⋅cm3
Color: Silvery White Metallic
Texture: liquid or solid
Hardness: 0.3
Malleability: soft
Ductility: used in thin film batteries
Conductivity: variation of conductivity at structural phase
transition points; conductivity is about the same as dilute
sulphuric acid, suggesting uses in thin film batteries
Flammability: ignites spontaneously in air and reacts violently
with water, setting fire to the liberated hydrogen, it colors a
flame yellowish-purple
Photosensitivity: porous glass doped with Rb can be used as a
support to record a light pulse for a long time as well as to
remember the order of light colors in an illumination sequence.
Combustibility: ignites spontaneously in air
Toxicity: some degree of toxicity of rubidium for humans. In
experiences with animals, the inclusion of the element in the
diet can cause neuromuscular hyperirritability symptoms and
reproductive deficiencies. In extreme cases it causes violent
muscular spasms or even death. By skin contact, metallic
rubidium causes serious cutaneous burns, in spite of the fact
that most of its compounds only slightly irritate the skin. The
most toxic rubidium compounds are the fluoride, the hydroxide
and the cyanide.
Who discovered the element?
• Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchoff
Where was it discovered?
• It was discovered in Germany during the year 1861 in the
mineral lepidolite through the use of a spectroscope, but
it also occurs in pollucite, leucite, and zinnwaldite.
What are the uses of the element?
• Used in ion engines for space vehicles
• A photocell component
When was it discovered?
• 1861
What are a few of the common uses or the historical uses of this
element?
• As a “getter” in vacuum tubes
• Used for making special glasses
• Used in thin film batteries
List the way(s) in which the element appears naturally. How is
it mined or extracted from the ground?
• 16th most abundant element in the earth’s crust
• No minerals of rubidium are known, but it is present in
significant amounts of other minerals
What are the main compounds formed by this element and the
industrial uses of these compounds?
• Rubidium fluoride
• Rubidium chloride
• Rubidium bromide
• Rubidium iodide
• Rubidium oxide
What are the main environmental concerns about this element?
Are its compounds causing pollution?
• There are no negative environmental effects.
• It as a slight stimulatory effect on metabolism, because it
is like a potassium.
1. 16th most abundant element in the earth’s crust
2. Has the highest room temperature conductivity of any known
ionic crystal.
3. Must be stored under dry mineral oil in an inert atmosphere
4. Second most electropositive and alkaline element
5. Not found uncombined in nature
Name: Corinna Palko
Period: 5