'Rubidium' definitions:
Definition of 'rubidium'
From: WordNet
noun
A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali metal group; burns in air and reacts violently in water; occurs in carnallite and lepidolite and pollucite [syn: rubidium, Rb, atomic number 37]
Definition of 'Rubidium'
From: GCIDE
- Rubidium \Ru*bid"i*um\, n. [NL., fr. L. rubidus red, fr. rubere to be red. So called from two dark red spectroscopic lines by means of which it was discovered in the lepidolite from Rozena, Moravia. See Rubicund.] (Chem.) A rare metallic element of the alkali metal series, atomic number 37. It occurs quite widely, but in small quantities, and always combined. It is isolated as a soft yellowish white metal, analogous to potassium in most of its properties. Symbol Rb. Atomic weight, 85.48. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Rubidium'
From: Elements
- Symbol: Rb
- Atomic number: 37
- Atomic weight: 85.47
- Soft silvery metallic element, belongs to group 1 of the periodic table. Rb-97, the naturally occurring isotope, is radioactive. It is highly reactive, with properties similar to other elements in group 1, like igniting spontaneously in air. Discovered spectroscopically in 1861 by W. Bunsen and G.R. Kirchoff.