Page 67 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Chemistry 101

Actually, some people think Jedrzej Sniadecki discovered
ruthenium in 1807; only he called it Vestium. I can see why.
There’s absolutely no sex appeal in calling something Snia-
deckium.

As the story goes, young Karl Karlovitch was puttering
around with some platinum one day when he discovered ru-
thenium. Funny, I don’t recall any platinum in my chemistry
set when I was a kid. I can hear it now, “Karly, if I’ve told you
once, I’ve told you a thousand times, I don’t want you playing
around with the platinum on the porch. Daddy’s going to use
it to make me a curtain rod.” Of course, little Karly didn’t lis-
ten, and the next thing you know he’s making ruthenium. Boy,
did he get a beating that night.

Ruthenium is actually a pretty neat element. You can put it
in a fire and it won’t melt. Not in a regular fire anyway. You
have to get it really hot, like to about 4000 degrees. In case
you’re wondering, glass melts at a little over 2000 degrees.
(That’s what we call an example for comparative purposes.)
When it’s really cooking, add potassium chloride to ruthenium
for some incredible fireworks.

My wife isn’t Russian, so I don’t know if she has anything
to do with Ruthenium. I asked her, but she didn’t know. She
asked her father if they named her after an element, and she
said he didn’t know what she was talking about. That’s those
midwesterners for you.

2. Americium

Americium is a white, silvery metal, but it’s unlike a lot of
other elements since it’s not really found anywhere. You have

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