Iridium facts for kids
Iridium is a very special chemical element on the periodic table. It's number 77, and its symbol is Ir. This means it has 77 protons in its atoms.
Iridium is a type of metal. It belongs to a group called "platinum group metals". These metals are very rare and expensive. Iridium is also known as a "noble metal" because it doesn't easily react with other chemicals. It looks a lot like platinum and is very shiny.
Iridium is found in asteroids and comets. Scientists can even use iridium deposits to figure out when space objects have crashed into Earth!
This metal is very strong and can bend, a bit like aluminum. It melts at a super hot temperature of 2410 °C (4370 °F) and boils at 4130 °C (7466 °F). Iridium is the most corrosion-resistant metal known. This means it almost never rusts or gets damaged by chemicals.
Most iridium is found in North and South America. Some is also mined in places like Myanmar, South Africa, and Russia.
Discovery of Iridium
A scientist named Smithson Tennant first found iridium in 1803. He discovered it while studying crude platinum. He left the platinum in a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. After the platinum dissolved, iridium was left behind.
Iridium and Your Body
Iridium is not a metal that your body needs to stay healthy.
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Primordial From decay Synthetic Border shows natural occurrence of the element
- Ca: 40.078 — Abridged value (uncertainty omitted here)
- Po: [209] — mass number of the most stable isotope
Images for kids
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One troy ounce (31.1035 grams) of arc-melted iridium
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Vaska's complex
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The Greek goddess Iris, after whom iridium was named.
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The Willamette Meteorite, the sixth-largest meteorite found in the world, has 4.7 ppm iridium.
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The red arrow points to the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary.
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Oxidative addition to hydrocarbons in organoiridium chemistry
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Fountain pen nib labeled Iridium Point
See also
In Spanish: Iridio para niños
