Rb - Rubidium

Rubidium

Rubidium

Atomic Number:	37
Atomic Weight:	85.4678
Element Type:	Alkali Metal
Crystal Structure:	Cubic Body Centered
Melting Point:	39.31°C = 102.758°F = 312.46 K
Boiling Point:	688.0°C = 1270.4°F = 961.15 K
Critical Temp:	°C = °F = K
Atomic Radius:	2.98 Å (Å = Angstrom = 10^-10 m)
Covalent Radius:	2.16 Å
Electronegativity:	0.82

History

(L. rubidus, deepest red) Discovered in 1861 by Bunsen and Kirchoff in the minerallepidolite by use of the spectroscope.

Sources

The element is much more abundant than was thought several years ago. It is nowconsidered to be the 16th most abundant element in the earth's crust. Rubidium occurs inpollucite, leucite, and zinnwaldite, which contains traces up to 1%, in the form of theoxide. It is found in lepidolite to the extent of about 1.5%, and is recoveredcommercially from this source. Potassium minerals, such as those found at Searles Lake,California, and potassium chloride recovered from the brines in Michigan also contain theelement and are commercial sources. It is also found along with cesium in the extensivedeposits of pollucite at Bernic Lake, Manitoba.

'The strength and weakness of physicists is that we believe in what we can measure. And if we can't measure it, then we say it probably doesn't exist. And that closes us off to an enormous amount of phenomena that we may not be able to measure because they only happened once. For example, the Big Bang. ... That's one reason why they scoffed at higher dimensions for so many years. Now we realize that there's no alternative... '

Michio Kaku
(1947-)