iridium
a precious metallic element resembling platinum: used in platinum alloys and for the points of gold pens. Symbol: Ir; atomic weight: 192.2; atomic number: 77; specific gravity: 22.4 at 20°C.
Origin of iridium
1Words Nearby iridium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use iridium in a sentence
They store all the data they collect, and once they break through the waves, the GPS signal will activate, and it will be able to “phone home” through an iridium satellite network.
These free-floating robots can monitor the health of our oceans | Charlotte Hu | August 18, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThat firm is iridium, the satellite telecom valued at more than $5 billion.
SPAC investors can learn from Iridium’s 30-year overnight success | Tim Fernholz | March 18, 2021 | QuartzGlobally distributed iridium layer preserved within the Chicxulub impact structure.
Comets Are More Dangerous Than We Thought - Issue 98: Mind | Sean Raymond | March 10, 2021 | NautilusPresumably the iridium level of a cometary object wouldn’t be that far off, but it remains to be seen.
Comets Are More Dangerous Than We Thought - Issue 98: Mind | Sean Raymond | March 10, 2021 | NautilusToday iridium is SpaceX’s largest commercial customer, having launched 75 of its satellites on eight SpaceX rockets.
Two years later, a Russian satellite crashed into a communications satellite owned by the company iridium.
Space Station’s Near Miss Underlines the Dangers of Debris in Space | Eli Lake | March 27, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTLes Paul was a Monday night regular at the New York City club iridium for the final years of his life.
Note the quality of the following statements: iridium has a power, purity and simplicity that pleases me; now I can make progress.
It has been observed that when Medicinal iridium acts as a laxative, it will regulate the same.
It should not be difficult for the physician to fix the status of iridium under this sort of exploitation.
The native alloy of osmium and iridium does not alloy with gold, however, but falls to the bottom of the molten metal.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob BeringerThe gold may contain an alloy of osmium and iridium; if so, it should be weighed and treated with aqua regia.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
British Dictionary definitions for iridium
/ (aɪˈrɪdɪəm, ɪˈrɪd-) /
a very hard inert yellowish-white transition element that is the most corrosion-resistant metal known. It occurs in platinum ores and is used as an alloy with platinum. Symbol: Ir; atomic no: 77; atomic wt: 192.22; valency: 3 or 4; relative density: 22.42; melting pt: 2447°C; boiling pt: 4428°C
Origin of iridium
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for iridium
[ ĭ-rĭd′ē-əm ]
A rare, whitish-yellow element that is the most corrosion-resistant metal known. It is very dense, hard, and brittle, and is is used to make hard alloys of platinum for jewelry, pen points, and electrical contacts. Atomic number 77; atomic weight 192.2; melting point 2,410°C; boiling point 4,130°C; specific gravity 22.42 (at 17°C); valence 3, 4. See Periodic Table.
a closer look
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse