Platinum is a transition metal, grayish-white in color, and one of the precious metals. It is primarily used in jewelry, but also in electroplating, catalytic converters, and medical instruments. It is found worldwide and mined in Canada, Colombia, Peru, Russia, and South Africa.
Platinum is a metallic element with atomic number 78 and symbol Pt. In the periodic table of elements it is found in Group 10 and Period 6 between iridium and gold. It is called a “transition metal”. It is also one of the “platinum metals”, along with iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium.
Platinum is a malleable and ductile element. Described as grayish-white in color, its name comes from the Spanish platina, meaning “little silver.” Platinum is one of the so-called precious metals, along with gold and silver.
Although known and used in South America by pre-Columbian Native Americans, its first mention in European literature was probably the oblique reference to a metal found between Mexico and Darién in 1557 by Julius Caesar Scaliger, a French scholar of Italian origin. It was further documented in 1730 by the Spaniard Antonio de Ulloa, an astronomer with a French expedition to Peru.
Usually found mixed with other metals, including iridium, nickel or osmium, or more rarely, arsenic or sulfur, platinum is found throughout the world but is mined primarily in Canada, Colombia, Peru, Russia and South Africa. About 30 tonnes (27.2 tons) are produced annually. Iridium can be added to form an alloy.
While many people know platinum from its use in jewelry – which is how over 90% of it is used, platinum has a number of other uses. It is used in electroplating, as a catalyst in automobile catalytic converters, in making crucibles, in dental crowns and, combined with cobalt, to make magnets.
Special uses include the production of standard weights and measures: the international standard for the kilogram is 90% platinum, and the Standard Hydrogen Electrode definition also includes platinum. In the medical field, it is used in the construction of dental crowns, surgical posts and surgical instruments, as well as being used as an anticancer agent.
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