Term: iridium (Ir)
Literally
meaning: “pertaining
to rainbow”
Origin
=éρις (gen ίριδος)/iris(=rainbow)>είρω/ero(=announce, say)
Iridium
element named because of variety of colors which it gives while dissolving in marine acid.
Coined/History
Iridium was found in 1803 by
English chemist Smithson Tennant (1761-1815). Iridium and osmium were identified
in the black residue remaining after dissolving platinum ore with aqua regia (
a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid). Platinum was known in Europe
from Spanish conquerors who found it in Colombia.
Definition
Iridium is a hard
silvery-white chemical element with atomic number 77 and atomic mass 192,217. Iridium is the most corrosion--resistant
metal known. It is used mainly as hardening agent for platinum alloys.
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