Is there an element more valuable than gold?

              When asked to name some expensive elements in the world, many would readily name gold and silver. However, there are many other precious elements in the world. Rhodium is one among them. It is a silver-white element. It is costlier than gold or silver.

              Rhodium was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, an English chemist. He had just discovered the element palladium in the previous year. Rhodium derives its name from the Greek word ‘rhodon’, meaning rose, named for the rose-red colour of its salts. It is one of the rarest elements, ranging up to only .00002 parts per million (ppm) in the earth’s crust.

             Rhodium does not play any significant role in life processes, and has no known biological use.

             While some compounds of rhodium are believed to be carcinogenic, there are almost no reported cases of humans being affected by this element in any way. This may be due to the fact that we rarely come in contact with rhodium compounds in everyday life.

             The atomic number of rhodium is 45 and it is represented as Rh.

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