Ruthenium (Ru) – Periodic Table [Element Information & More]

Ruthenium element (Ru) is in group 8 and period 5 of a periodic table. Ruthenium is in the d-block and it is classified as a transition element on the periodic table.

There is a lot more information related to ruthenium which is mentioned in the Information Table given below.

So let’s dive right into it!

Table of contents

• Ruthenium element (Information Table)
• Ruthenium element in Periodic table
• Facts about Ruthenium
• Properties of Ruthenium
• Uses of Ruthenium

Ruthenium Element (Information Table)

The important data related to ruthenium element is given in the table below.

Appearance of ruthenium	Silvery gray metallic appearance
Atomic number of ruthenium	44
Symbol of ruthenium	Ru
Atomic mass of ruthenium	101.07 u
Protons, Neutrons & Electrons in ruthenium	Protons: 44, Neutrons: 57, Electrons: 44
State of ruthenium (at STP)	Solid
Group number of ruthenium in periodic table	8
Period number of ruthenium in periodic table	5
Block of ruthenium in periodic table	d-block
Category of ruthenium	Transition metal
Bohr model or Electrons per shell or Electrons arrangement in ruthenium	2, 8, 18, 15, 1
Electron configuration of ruthenium	[Kr] 4d7 5s1
Orbital diagram of ruthenium
Electronegativity of ruthenium (on pauling scale)	2.2
Atomic radius of ruthenium (van der Waals radius)	207 picometers
Density of ruthenium	12.37 g/cm3
1st ionization energy of ruthenium	7.361 eV
Main isotope of ruthenium	102Ru
Melting point of ruthenium	2607 K or 2334 °C or 4233 °F
Boiling point of ruthenium	4423 K or 4150 °C or 7502 °F
Crystal structure of ruthenium	Hexagonal Close Packing (HCP)
Discovery of ruthenium	By Karl Ernst Claus in 1844

Also see: Interactive Periodic Table (It has rotating bohr models as well as many other details of all the 118 elements in a single periodic table).

Ruthenium element in Periodic table

The Ruthenium element (Ru) has the atomic number 44 and is located in group 8 and period 5. Ruthenium is a metal and it is classified as a transition element.

Click on above elements in the periodic table to see their information.

Facts about ruthenium

Here are a few interesting facts about ruthenium element.

1. The name “Ruthenium” came from the word “Ruthenia” which is a Latin word for Russia.
2. Ruthenium was discovered by Karl Ernst Claus in 1844.
3. The concentration of ruthenium in the earth’s crust is around 1 part per billion by weight (which is very less). And its concentration in the solar system is believed to be 5 parts per billion by weight.
4. Ruthenium is mainly obtained from the mineral deposits from the Ural mountain in North and South America. It is also found from the pyroxenite deposits of South Africa (source).
5. Ruthenium can also be extracted from the radioactive waste.

Properties of ruthenium

Here is a list of some physical properties and chemical properties of ruthenium.

Physical properties of ruthenium

• Ruthenium is a metal with a silvery gray metallic appearance.
• Ruthenium has an atomic mass 101.07 u and its density is 12.37 g/cm³.
• The melting point and boiling point of ruthenium is 2607 K and 4423 K respectively.
• Ruthenium has HCP crystal structure.
• Ruthenium has many isotopes, and out of these isotopes, the most abundant isotope is ¹⁰²Ru. It has an abundance of around 31.5%.

Chemical properties of ruthenium

• The electronic configuration of ruthenium is [Kr] 4d⁷ 5s¹ and it is a transition metal as it has incomplete d-orbitals.
• The corrosion resistance property of titanium can be improved by adding only 0.1% ruthenium to it.
• As it is a transition metal, it has many oxidation states like +2, +3 as well as +4.
• Ruthenium metal does not tarnish if kept open in the air at room temperature.
• Ruthenium metal shows a chemical reaction with halogens and hydroxides.

Uses of ruthenium

Here are some uses of the ruthenium element.

• Ruthenium is used as an alloy with other elements to improve properties like corrosion resistance.
• Ruthenium-molybdenum alloy behaved like a superconductor at a very low temperature of 10.6 K.
• In order to increase the hardness of metals like platinum and palladium, ruthenium is added to them.

External resources:

1. James A. M. & Lord M. P. (1992). Macmillan’s chemical and physical data. Macmillan.
2. Bedford, et al. (1996, April 1). Recommended values of temperature on the International Temperature Scale of 1990 for a selected set of secondary reference points. Metrologia, 33(2), 133–154. https://doi.org/10.1088/0026-1394/33/2/3
3. Allred, A. (1961, June). Electronegativity values from thermochemical data. Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, 17(3–4), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1902(61)80142-5
4. Ruthenium – Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table. (n.d.). Ruthenium – Element Information, Properties and Uses | Periodic Table. https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/44/ruthenium
5. Ruthenium – Wikipedia. (2007, December 10). Ruthenium – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthenium
6. P. (n.d.). Ruthenium | Ru (Element) – PubChem. Ruthenium | Ru (Element) – PubChem. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Ruthenium
7. Possolo, et al. (2018, January 4). Interpreting and propagating the uncertainty of the standard atomic weights (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 90(2), 395–424. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2016-0402
8. Emsley, J. (2011). Nature’s Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. United Kingdom: OUP Oxford.
9. Haynes, W. M. (Ed.). (2014, June 4). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17118
10. Electronic structure of the elements. (2000, March). The European Physical Journal C, 15(1–4), 78–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02683401
11. It’s Elemental – The Element Ruthenium. (n.d.). It’s Elemental – the Element Ruthenium. https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele044.html
12. Higgins, S. (2010, November 23). Regarding ruthenium. Nature Chemistry, 2(12), 1100–1100. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.917
13. Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. (n.d.). Periodic Table of Elements: Los Alamos National Laboratory. https://periodic.lanl.gov/44.shtml
14. Atomic Weight of Ruthenium | Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights. (n.d.). Atomic Weight of Ruthenium | Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights. https://ciaaw.org/ruthenium.htm
15. Atomic Data for Ruthenium (Ru). (n.d.). Atomic Data for Ruthenium (Ru). https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Handbook/Tables/rutheniumtable1.htm