| Rhodium [Rh] (CAS-ID: 7440-16-6) | |
| An: 45 N: 158 Am: 102.90550 (2) | |
| Group No: 9 Group Name: Precious metal or Platinum group metal | |
| Block: d-block Period: 5 | |
| State: solid | |
| Colour: silvery white metallic Classification: Metallic | |
| Boiling Point: 3968K (3695'C) | |
| Melting Point: 2237K (1964'C) | |
| Density: 12.41g/cm3 | |
 Discovery Information |
| Who: William Wollaston |
| When: 1803 |
| Where: England |
| Name Origin |
| Greek: rhodon (rose). Its salts give a rosy solution. |
| Sources |
| The industrial extraction of rhodium is complex as the metal occurs in ores mixed with other metals such as palladium, silver, platinum, and gold. Principal sources of this element are located in South Africa, in river sands of the Ural Mountains, in North and South America and also in the copper-nickel sulfide mining area of the Sudbury, Ontario region. Obtained as a by-product of nickel production. Over 80% of the world's rhodium exports comes from South Aftica. The annual production of rhodium is only around 20 tonnes. |
| Uses |
| The primary use of this element is as an alloying agent for hardening platinum and palladium. Used as a coating to prevent wear on high quality science equipment and with platinum to make thermocouples. Also used in headlight reflectors, thelephone relays, fountain pen points and airplane spark plugs. Sometimes used to give white gold extra shine. |
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