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Discovery: British chemist Smithson Tennant discovered osmium in 1803 in the residue left when crude platinum was dissolved by aqua regia. Osmium is produced as a by-product of nickel refining. The element occurs in the mineral iridosule and in platinum-bearing river sands in the Urals, North America and South America.
Who found osmium element?
Background. In 1803AD, Osmium was discovered by Smithson Tennant when dissolving an impure sample of platinum in aqua regia, a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. He was able to determine that the black powder left behind after dissolving the platinum was actually a mixture of two new elements, indium and osmium.
How is osmium found on Earth?
Osmium is the least abundant stable element in Earth’s crust, with an average mass fraction of 50 parts per trillion in the continental crust. As with all of the platinum group metals, osmium can be found naturally in alloys with nickel or copper.
When was osmium found?
1803.
What element has 76 atomic number?
Osmium is a chemical element with symbol Os and atomic number 76. Classified as a transition metal, Osmium is a solid at room temperature.
Is osmium harder than diamond?
Researchers from us-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (llnl) have discovered that osmium, a metal, is harder than diamond. It withstands compression better than any other material. Osmium powder and argon were placed in the hole and subjected to very high pressure of 600,000 atmospheres.
What is the heaviest metal in the world?
Osmium is one of the heaviest materials on earth, weighing twice as much as lead per teaspoon. Osmium is a chemical element in the platinum group metals; it’s often used as alloys in electrical contacts and fountain pen nibs.
Where is osmium most commonly found?
Sources of osmium The element occurs in the mineral iridosule and in platinum-bearing river sands in the Urals, North America and South America. While there is little osmium in these products, it can be easily obtained from processed nickel ores.
Is osmium safe to handle?
Health effects of osmium Osmium tetroxide, OsO4, is highly toxic. Concentrations in air as low as 10–7 g m–3 can cause lung congestion, skin damage, and severe eye damage. The oxide, in particular, should only ever be handled by a properly qualified chemist.
What is osmium used for today?
Osmium has only a few uses. It is used to produce very hard alloys for fountain pen tips, instrument pivots, needles and electrical contacts. It is also used in the chemical industry as a catalyst.
Does osmium shatter?
Pure osmium is a very hard, lustrous (shiny), bluish-white or silvery metal. Osmium is also very brittle, which means that it will shatter into small pieces. Of all the metals in the platinum group, osmium has the highest melting temperature.
How much is osmium worth?
Osmium is still not as expensive as Gold, being around $400 USD per ounce compared $1,300 USD per ounce.
What is the symbol of osmium?
Os
Why is osmium the densest element?
Why Osmium Is Densest When Heavier Elements Exist Osmium (and iridium) have a very small atomic radius, so the mass is packed into a small volume. The electrons orbit the atomic nucleus so fast their apparent mass increases and the s orbital radius decreases.
Which metal has the least density?
Under standard conditions, lithium is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. It is a soft, silver-white metal belonging to the alkali metal group of chemical elements.
Is iridium a rare earth metal?
Sources. Today, iridium is commercially recovered as a byproduct of copper or nickel mining. Pure iridium is so rare on the Earth’s crust that there is only about 2 parts per billion located in the crust, according to Chemistry Explained. “Iridium is one of the densest and rarest of Earth’s natural elements.
Can you crush a diamond with a hammer?
As an example, you can scratch steel with a diamond, but you can easily shatter a diamond with a hammer. The diamond is hard, the hammer is strong. Whether something is hard or strong depends on its internal structure. Diamonds, because of their lack of flexibility in the structure, are not actually very strong at all.
What is the strongest thing on earth?
The World’s Strongest Stuff Diamond. Unmatched in its ability to resist being scratched, this much-loved gemstone ranks the highest in terms of hardness. Graphene. Spider silk. Carbon/carbon composite. Silicon carbide. Nickel-based super-alloys.
What is the hardest thing in the universe?
Summary: A team of scientists has calculated the strength of the material deep inside the crust of neutron stars and found it to be the strongest known material in the universe.
What’s the heaviest liquid on Earth?
Mercury is the densest liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure (STP). Also called quicksilver, mercury has been known for more than 3,500 years. It is an important metal in industry, but it is also toxic.
What metals are heavier than steel?
Tungsten is 1.7 times denser than lead and about 2.5 times denser than a typical steel. The density of lead is 0.410 lb/in 3 , which means a cube of lead one inch on all sides weighs 0.41 pounds. Tungsten has a density of 0.70 lbs/in 3 .
Is gold heavier than steel?
The problem with making good-quality fake gold is that gold is remarkably dense. It’s almost twice the density of lead, and two-and-a-half times more dense than steel. A bar of steel the same size would weigh only thirteen and a half pounds.
How do I get osmium?
Osmium is a Metal Commodity. It cannot be purchased from Commodities Markets, and must be mined from asteroids in metallic or metal-rich Planetary Ring Systems.
What does osmium smell like?
Osmium tetroxide has a characteristic, unpleasant, irritating odour similar to that of chlorine and ozone with a touch of garlic.
How common is osmium?
Osmium is the rarest of the stable elements: its average abundance in the Earth’s crust is about 1 gram per 200 tonnes. Today, osmium is obtained commercially as a by-product of refining nickel and some of the more common platinum-group metals.
