Discovered : 1861 by R. W. Bunsen and G. Kirchhoff in Heidelberg.
Origin : The name is derived from the Latin rubidius, ‘red’.
Description :
A soft metal that ignites in the air and reacts violently with water. It has no biologcal role, but because of its chemical similarity to potassium, we absorb it from our food, and the average person has stores of about half a gram.
Image :
Electric eye - rubidium used in photo-electric cells. Click here to see larger version of this image.
