Osmium is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76.
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13 Facts About Osmium
2.
Osmium is among the rarest elements in the Earth's crust, making up only 50 parts per trillion .
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3.
Osmium has a blue-gray tint and is the densest stable element; it is approximately twice as dense as lead and slightly denser than iridium.
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4.
Osmium is a hard but brittle metal that remains lustrous even at high temperatures.
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5.
Osmium pentafluoride is known, but osmium trifluoride has not yet been synthesized.
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6.
Osmium has seven naturally occurring isotopes, five of which are stable: Os, Os, Os, Os, and Os.
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8.
Osmium obtained a yellow solution by reactions with sodium hydroxide at red heat.
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9.
Osmium is obtained commercially as a by-product from nickel and copper mining and processing.
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10.
Osmium tetroxide has been used in fingerprint detection and in staining fatty tissue for optical and electron microscopy.
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11.
Osmium has high reflectivity in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum; for example, at 600 A osmium has a reflectivity twice that of gold.
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12.
Osmium-coated mirrors were flown in several space missions aboard the Space Shuttle, but it soon became clear that the oxygen radicals in low Earth orbit are abundant enough to significantly deteriorate the osmium layer.
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13.
Osmium tetroxide is highly volatile and penetrates skin readily, and is very toxic by inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact.
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