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rubidium oxide is a yellow solid that is the simplest of the alkali metal oxides. It is a strong base and reacts quickly with water to form rubidium hydroxide RbOH, releasing heat. Like other strongly alkaline compounds, it is dangerous and can burn skin when handled improperly.
Rubidium is an element that has a single stable oxidation state (+1). It is very soft and ductile, and it conducts heat and electricity less well than silver or copper but about 5 to 10-times better than the best-conducting metal, tin. Rubidium is very reactive and must be kept in a vacuum tube to prevent it from spontaneously igniting in air or reacting violently with water to produce hydrogen gas that can explode.
Like other alkali metals, it reacts with the halides to form salts. It has a number of uses that take advantage of its physical and chemical properties, including atomic clocks, medical imaging, and solar power. It is also used as a working fluid in vapor turbines, and it is an ingredient in some types of glass and ceramics. It has been studied as a fuel for ion thrusters in spacecraft.
Rubidium is the 16th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. It is found in the minerals leucite, pollucite, and carnalite, which usually contain traces up to 1% of the element. The element is also present in the mineral lepidolite, which can contain up to 3% rubidium and other elements such as potassium, lithium, aluminum, silicon, and fluorine.