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| A soft, silvery white alkali metal that is highly reactive, igniting spontaneously in air. It melts on a very hot day.
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Ampoule.
Rubidium is one of four metallic elements that can be liquid at room temperature, or sauna temperature in this case. The metal in this ampoule is protected under argon gas. It catches fire when exposed to oxygen in the air and reacts explosively with water.
Source: Scientific supply company.
Size: ampoule 2"
Purity: 99.9%
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Time standard cell.
This is an oscillator from a highly accurate atomic clock. If you look very carefully, you might just be able to see a tiny drop of silver rubidium metal inside the cell, visible through the inspection window. This vaporizes in the vacuum when heated by an electric coil and the atoms of rubidium are then excited with a radio signal so that their electrons vibrate at a characteristic and highly precise frequency. This vibration is measured and used as the reference for the clock. Cesium can also be used for this purpose. Such timepieces are accurate to within 3 seconds in a billion years!
Source: eBay
Size: 1"
Purity: 99.9%
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