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Do not repeat the experiments shown in this video!
Today I would like to tell you about such a metal as ruthenium which has recently received heavy coverage in the mass media. In the periodic table of chemical elements it belongs to the so-called platinum group which unites metals, chemical and physical properties of which are similar, and also those metals that are commonly found together in their naturally occurring minerals. Ruthenium is extracted from platinum ores. There are lots of ruthenium rich deposits in the Ural Mountains and also in the mountains of South and North Americas. By the way pure ruthenium was first extracted from ural ore by a Russian scientist, Karl Ernst Claus in the Kazan Federal University. He named the element after his motherland - Russia. He gave the metal its Latin name to be precise. The pure extracted ruthenium is a shiny and heavy metal with a quite high melting point - 2334°C. As some of the split ruthenium balls indicate, the metal is quite fragile and almost can’t be forged. From a chemical point of view, however, the metal is very similar to its platinum fellow metals belonging to the platinum group. That is why it doesn’t react actively with most chemicals. This property of the metal can be used to grow beautiful metal crystals. The crystals form when ruthenium particles are transported as gas in vacuum and at high temperatures. Such crystals do not have oxide coating that is why they look stunning. High resolution macro photos of such crystals look particularly interesting especially when crystals glitter in contre-jour lighting. Ruthenium almost doesn’t oxidize in air at room temperatures. Some minor changes occur only at high temperatures. After heating up with a gas burner ruthenium crystals start covering in multi-color ruthenium dioxide layer. Its thickness is extremely small. Because of being very hard and very corrosion resistant in air, this metal is often used to coat the surface of electrical terminals in order to prevent them from getting oxidized and worn out thus ensuring reliable connection. Pure metallic ruthenium is also added to superalloys of nickel with aluminium which can withstand high pressure at high temperatures. These alloys are used to make blades for jet engine turbines. Being so chemically inactive ruthenium also doesn’t react with acids. It doesn’t dissolve in any acid, not even in boiling aqua regia. Anyways, this noble metal can easily oxidise in plain chlorine bleach solution containing sodium hypochlorite and traces of alkali. It can be clearly observed that upon heating up the metallic droplets slowly start to dissolve giving the solution brown color. This reaction produces sodium perrhenates and ruthenates which are quite necessary compounds nowadays. If sodium is substituted with bismuth in such compounds, you will get bismuth ruthenate - a chemical used with ruthenium dioxide to make thick film miniature resistors, which are used in lots of smartphones, and also hard miniature electronics. Later when the ruthenates in the solution react with hypochlorites they can form dark ruthenium tetroxide.