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From: jelkind@ruby.berkeley.edu (The Unexpected Tiger)
Newsgroups: sci.misc
Subject: Re: Osmium?
Message-ID: <4040@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Sun, 21-Jun-87 12:13:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: jade.4040
Posted: Sun Jun 21 12:13:27 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Jun-87 03:54:25 EDT
References: <1754@ames.UUCP> <336@gtx.com> <2289@calmasd.GE.COM>
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Reply-To: jelkind@ruby.berkeley.edu (The Unexpected Tiger)
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Keywords: osmium

>>     I have a strange request ... does anyone in netland know where I can
>> get some of osmium?  

The form of Os that is generally commercially available is Os powder.  It
costs in the realm of $80 - $100 per gram.  You should also know that
Os powder oxidizes spontaneously in air to form the EXTREMELY TOXIC compound
osmium tetroxide.  

>> ... But seriously, what property
>> of osmium would make it a choice for a ball-point pen tip?

As other people have mentioned, the property of osmium that makes it a choice
for a ball-point pen tip is its extreme hardness and ability to form very
hard alloys.

>On the order of 25 years ago I read a short piece on Osmium in the Life
>Science Library book of Elements.  As my weakening memory recalls, Osmium has
>a remarkably low melting point (near 100F I seem to recall). 
>
>John M. Pantone @ GE/Calma R&D, Data Management Group, San Diego

According to the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (1981-82 edition), the 
melting point of osmium is 3045 +/- 30 degrees Celsius.  Although the 10th
edition of the Merck index reports its melting point as 2700 C, the catalogs
I've seen quote the former value.  In any case, Os is the *highest* melting 
platinum metal, and, accoding to the trusty CRC, is "very difficult to 
fabricate."

					Richard Schultz