ruthenium

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

Ruthenium is a hard, white metal. It does not tarnish at room temperatures, but oxidises in air at about 800°C. The metal is not attacked by hot or cold acids or aqua regia, but when potassium chlorate is added to the solution, it oxidises explosively.

General information

Discoveror: Karl Karlovich Klaus
Date discovered: 1844
Discovered at: Russia
Meaning of name: From the Latin word "Ruthenia" meaning "Russia"

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white metallic
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 12370
Molar volume/cm³: 8.17

Radii /pm

Atomic: 178
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Ru]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	164.7	no data	63.9	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 2.2
Allred Rochow: 1.42

Crystal Structure

structure: hcp (hexagonal close-packed)

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 2607
boiling point: 4423

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 25.9
vaporization: 579

single bond enthalpies:

Ru-F	Ru-Cl	Ru-Br	Ru-I	Ru-Ru
no data	no data	no data	no data	no data

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	711
2nd	1617
3rd	2747

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
96Ru	95.907599 (8)	5.52 (6)
98Ru	97.905287 (7)	1.88 (8)
99Ru	98.9059389 (23)	12.7 (1)
100Ru	99.9042192 (24)	12.6 (1)
101Ru	100.9055819 (24)	17.0 (1)
102Ru	101.9043485 (25)	31.6 (2)
104Ru	103.905424 (6)	18.7 (2)

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW