Rhodium
🚗 In Your World
Rhodium is one of the rarest and most valuable precious metals in the world, often exceeding the price of gold. Its primary use is in catalytic converters for cars, where it helps reduce harmful nitrogen oxide emissions. Its extreme hardness and corrosion resistance also make it a popular choice for plating jewelry, especially white gold and sterling silver, to give it a bright, reflective finish and protect it from scratches.
📖 The Discovery Story
Rhodium was discovered in 1803 by English chemist William Hyde Wollaston, shortly after he discovered palladium. He extracted it from a sample of platinum ore from South America. He named the new element "rhodium" from the Greek word rhodon, meaning "rose," because of the beautiful rose-red color of one of its dissolved chlorine compounds.
📊 Properties at a Glance
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Melting Point | 1964 °C / 3567 °F |
| Boiling Point | 3695 °C / 6683 °F |
| Electron Configuration | [Kr] 4d⁸5s¹ |
| Abundance in Earth's Crust | 0.0000001% |
⚠️ Safety & Handling
Rhodium metal is inert and harmless due to its extreme lack of reactivity. However, some rhodium compounds are considered toxic and are suspected carcinogens. As with other platinum group metals, handling its compounds requires care in industrial settings.