Kazan—Karl Ernst Claus
elements
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Ruthenium
- Starting in 1840, Karl Ernst Claus worked
- with platinum ore from the Saint Petersburg mint
- to study the chemistry and isolation
- of rhodium, iridium, osmium, palladium, and platinum.
- In 1844, he discovered a new element
- in the insoluble residue from crude platinum,
- determined its atomic weight, and described its properties.
- He named it after Ruthenia, the Latin name for where he was born.
Atomic number 44
- Wear-resistant electric contacts,
- thick-film resistors,
- fountain-pen nibs,
- jet-engine turbine blades,
- dust for showing fingerprints,
- red stain for microscopy,
- catalyst for removing sulfur from oil.
Parker 51
- In the evening
- I filled the pen with ink.
- Throughout the day
- its ink flowed out.
- Its ink traced
- my life’s outline.
- In the evening
- I filled the pen with ink again.
- *
- My ink flowed through
- a ruthenium nib.
- Silently,
- gracefully.
- Without stopping,
- without blotting.
My Parker 51 fountain pen had the ruthenium nib.
See also in The book of science:
Readings on wikipedia:
Other readings: