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Ruthenium
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<p>Ruthenium is a <a href="/facts/Chemical_element/0jducgWD">chemical element</a>; it has <a href="/facts/Symbol_(chemistry)/2Fe1VAL0">symbol</a> Ru and <a href="/facts/Atomic_number/bgAr581S">atomic number</a> 44. It is a rare <a href="/facts/Transition_metal/0slGWoLQ">transition metal</a> belonging to the <a href="/facts/Platinum_group/pbDgst54">platinum group</a> of the <a href="/facts/Periodic_table/umdGIfUb">periodic table</a>. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is unreactive to most chemicals. <a href="/facts/Karl_Ernst_Claus/EtpcYxS1">Karl Ernst Claus</a>, a Russian scientist of Baltic-German ancestry, discovered the element in 1844 at <a href="/facts/Kazan_State_University/5FxbmmMk">Kazan State University</a> and named it in honor of <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russia</a>. (He used the Latin name <i><a href="/facts/Ruthenia/MmmqKMjC">Ruthenia</a></i>, which can have other meanings, but specifically stated that the element was named in honor of his "motherland".) Ruthenium is usually found as a minor component of <a href="/facts/Platinum/qJC6lQf7">platinum</a> ores; the annual production has risen from about 19 <a href="/facts/Tonne/gMymLmWv">tonnes</a> in 2009 to some 35.5 tonnes in 2017. Most ruthenium produced is used in wear-resistant electrical contacts and thick-film resistors. A minor application for ruthenium is in platinum <a href="/facts/Alloy/I7w7WQWR">alloys</a> and as a chemical <a href="/facts/Catalysis/LPBS7TQC">catalyst</a>. A new application of ruthenium is as the capping layer for extreme ultraviolet <a href="/facts/Photomask/xCdRhIod">photomasks</a>. Ruthenium is generally found in ores with the other platinum group metals in the <a href="/facts/Ural_Mountains/gzNoPkt6">Ural Mountains</a> and in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North</a> and <a href="/facts/South_America/PhrFEMk7">South America</a>. Small but commercially important quantities are also found in <a href="/facts/Pentlandite/kAmPYFqG">pentlandite</a> extracted from <a href="/facts/Sudbury%2c_Ontario/IojLaSQn">Sudbury, Ontario</a>, and in <a href="/facts/Pyroxenite/orwgCqVw">pyroxenite</a> deposits in <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>. </p>