There are quite a few examples of materials on Earth more expensive thangold . Fromglittering diamondstoshiny rhodium , the world ’s cherished natural resources can bring in high prices . But what about Ir ?
What is iridium?
Iridium is a chemical element that has the nuclear identification number 77 and is classed as a conversion alloy . Iridium is square at room temperature . The name Iridium is said to come from the Greek wordIrismeaning rainbow which represents the strongly colored chemical compound rather than the alloy itself according to theRoyal Society of Chemistry . Like gold , iridium is moderately unreactive and has a very mellow denseness and melting breaker point . In fact , Ir is the most corrosion - resistant element within the Periodic Table .
Who discovered iridium?
English chemistSmithson Tennantis the somebody most credited with discovering the element – however many masses , admit French chemist H.V. Collet - Descotils , A.F. Fourcroy , and N.L. Vauquelin are potential to have come across Ir roughly around 1803 in platinum ores , reportsLiveScience . The alloy was found by dissolving platinum in aqua regia , a salmagundi of very strong window pane .
What is iridium used for?
Given the gamey concentration of this alloy , the uncommon complete flesh of Ir is rarely used – indeed , the rare form might not even live in nature . Most Ir - check ores only contain a minuscule percentage of Ir and can be found in South Africa , Alaska , Brazil , Myanmar , and Russia .
Instead , the material is combined with platinum to create alloy that are typically 5 - 10 per centum iridium . These alloy are then used for jewelry , the point of pens , operative metals , and electric liaison agree toBritannica .
How expensive is iridium?
At the metre of committal to writing , Iridium is$4,500 an ounce , whereas gold is roughly$2,082 an snow leopard . Time to check into those ballpen penitentiary !
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Iridium sits in the middle of the transition metals - number 77.Image Credit: Sandbh via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0
