Atoms of the same element are identical. The atoms of the one element are different from those of any other element. 3. Atoms of different elements can physically mix together or can chemically combine in simple whole-number ratios to form compounds.
iridium (symbol Ir) Silver-white, metallic element discovered in 1804 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant. A platinum-type metal, iridium is hard and brittle and the most corrosion-resistant metal. very rare element (0.0001 ppm of Earth 's crust), iridium is found in the naturally occurring alloys osmiridium (approximately 50% iridium) and iridiosmium (approximately 70% iridium) in Alaska and South Africa. It is obtained by igniting ammonium chloroiridate, (NH 4) 3 IrCl 6, in hydrogen atmosphere.
The discovery of iridium is intertwined with that of platinum and the other metals of the platinum group. Native platinum used by ancient Ethiopians and by South American cultures always contained a small amount of the other platinum group metals, including iridium.ridium is one of the rarest elements in Earth's crust, with annual production and consumption of only three tonnes. 191 Ir and 193 Ir are the only two naturally occurring isotopes of iridium, as well as the only stable isotopes; the latter is the more abundant of the two.