Calcium is used to isolate Rb from molten RbX because calcium has a smaller atomic radius than rubidium.
A chemical element's atomic radius, which is typically the average or typical distance between the nucleus's core and the outermost isolated electron, serves as a gauge for the size of an atom. There are numerous non-equivalent definitions of atomic radius since the border is not a clearly defined physical entity. Van der Waals radius, ionic radius, metallic radius, and covalent radius are the four most frequently used definitions of atomic radius. Atomic radii are typically measured in a chemically bound condition since it is challenging to isolated individual atoms in order to measure their radii individually.
