April 2020
Intermediate to advanced
296 pages
5h 20m
English

Low-melting, soft rubidium—with spectral lines so red,
Ignites in air, explodes when wet, so store ’neath oil instead!
THE FOURTH MEMBER OF THE GROUP 1 ALKALI METALS
Rubidium, much like its precursors (lithium, sodium, and potassium), is a soft, silvery metal. At 39°C, its melting point continues the downward trend from lithium (181°C) to sodium (98°C) to potassium (64°C). The metallic bonds that hold these metals together as solids progressively ...