![]() After Thomas Edison produced the first commercial electric light in 1879, the race was on to improve on his design - for starters there was the filament - the bit that glows to produce the light but, crucially, doesn't melt. Not because of its density or smelly compounds, but because of its high melting point. Time was, though, when osmium was considerably more sought after. ![]() Or about 100 kilograms if you prefer conventional units. None of these is what you might call a bulk application - which may account for why it's estimated that the current annual amount of osmium now produced right around the world weighs less than a large tiger. Not very nice.but at least apposite: as a powder even at room temperature it gives off osmium tetroxide, which is so corrosively pungent it can damge the eyes, lungs and skin.although strangely that doesn't prevent it sometimes being used - with extreme care - to help detect fingerprints. So he called it osmium - osme being the Greek for odour. Tennant described the "pungent and penetrating smell" as one of the new element's "most distinguishing characters". No such luck for the bluish-silver substance he found at the same time : it reeked - or at least some of its compounds did. What also didn't help was that his discovery of osmium around 1803 came as part of a job lot - he isolated another element, alongside it: also a metal it was hard and yellowy-white and some of its compounds had a kind of rainbow sheen when they caught the light so he gave it a nice shiny name - iridium as in iridescent. Perhaps in part that's because Smithson Tennant, an English chemist, was also the first to establish that diamond is a form of carbon.so this was never going to match up to that glittering career highlight. Even the man who discovered osmium treated it rather sniffily. It's brittle, prone to ponginess and arguably the dunce of the periodic table. Under-appreciated under-exploited osmium - if any element needs a change of PR this is the one. Given the whole periodic table to choose from, how to pick a particular element to talk about rather than any other? They've all got their charms and quirks - well, except maybe bismuth.I've never had much time for bismuth - but the deal was I had to single out one. Political stability of top reserve holderĪ percentile rank for the political stability of the country with the largest reserves, derived from World Bank governance indicators. The higher the value, the larger risk there is to supply.Ī percentile rank for the political stability of the top producing country, derived from World Bank governance indicators. The percentage of the world reserves located in the country with the largest reserves. The higher the value, the larger risk there is to supply. The percentage of an element produced in the top producing country. Low = substitution is possible with little or no economic and/or performance impact Medium = substitution is possible but there may be an economic and/or performance impact ![]() High = substitution not possible or very difficult. The availability of suitable substitutes for a given commodity. A higher recycling rate may reduce risk to supply. ![]() The percentage of a commodity which is recycled. The number of atoms of the element per 1 million atoms of the Earth’s crust. This is calculated by combining the scores for crustal abundance, reserve distribution, production concentration, substitutability, recycling rate and political stability scores. The Chemical Abstracts Service registry number is a unique identifier of a particular chemical, designed to prevent confusion arising from different languages and naming systems.ĭata for this section been provided by the British Geological Survey.Īn integrated supply risk index from 1 (very low risk) to 10 (very high risk). Where more than one isotope exists, the value given is the abundance weighted average.Ītoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. This is approximately the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. The mass of an atom relative to that of carbon-12. The transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through a liquid phase.ĭensity is the mass of a substance that would fill 1 cm 3 at room temperature. The temperature at which the liquid–gas phase change occurs. The temperature at which the solid–liquid phase change occurs. The arrangements of electrons above the last (closed shell) noble gas. These blocks are named for the characteristic spectra they produce: sharp (s), principal (p), diffuse (d), and fundamental (f). The atomic number of each element increases by one, reading from left to right.Įlements are organised into blocks by the orbital type in which the outer electrons are found. Members of a group typically have similar properties and electron configurations in their outer shell.Ī horizontal row in the periodic table.
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