Re
75
What is Rhenium?
Rhenium is a silvery-white, rare, and expensive chemical element with
the symbol of Re. It was discovered by Walter Noddack, Ida Tacke, and
Otto Berg in Germany in 1925. This element was discovered in the Rhine
River region and got its name from the Latin meaning of “Rhine River”.
Where does it come from?
Rhenium does not occur in natural as a free metal. Small amounts of
rhenium can be found in the minerals gadolinite and molybdenite.
Rhenium is also obtained for commercial use through the processing of
copper-sulfide ores that contain molybdenite. In this process the
molybdenite turns into a sludge and then is heated and rhenium is
released.
What are some of its uses?
It is used in some missiles.
Used in
Used in light bulb filaments
plating jewelry.
What are
some of
its uses?
Rhenium wire is used in photoflash lamps for photography.
Used as an additive to tungsten in some x‐ray sources. Used as filaments in mass spectrographs.
Used in electrical contact material. In what form is it sold?
Rhenium is most commonly sold as a powder. It can also be sold in
the form of wire, ribbon, foil, and rod. Rhenium costs $250 per troy/oz.
In 1928, it used to cost $10,000 per gram.
Different Facts:
Boiling Point Melting Point
Temperature Temperature
3186˚C
5766.8˚F
5596˚C
10104.8˚F
Atomic
Weight
Texture
Density
(as a solid)
186.207
Liquid, solid,
or powder.
21.02 g·cm−3
(Thermal)
Conductivity
Ductility
(300 K) 48.0
W·m−1·K−1
When rhenium is
heated it is very
ductile, and can be
bent, coiled, or
rolled.
Hardness
Texture
(Mohs scale)
7.0
liquid, solid, or
powder
Little is also known about rhenium’s toxicity. Rhenium is silverywhite with a metallic luster. Rhenium’s atomic number is 75.
Five Fun Facts:
1.
Rhenium has the third highest melting point.
2.
Rhenium is the ninth rarest element.
3.
Rhenium is the fourth densest element.
4.
Gets its name from the Latin name for the Rhine River which
is “Rhenus”.
5.
As of 2005, Chile had the largest reserves of rhenium and
was the leading producer.