Platinum

Located Group 10 and Period 6 of the Periodic Table is one of the very rare and valuable metal on Earth. This is Platinum.

First discovered in 1735 by Antonio de Ulloa and first isolated by a English Chemist in 1741 by Charles Wood.

Actually, the discovery of Platinum has been made since 1557, where famous Italian physicist, scholar and poet Julius Caesar Scaliger wrote a report about the hard metal that the natives had learned to work with. However, the Spanish have not. The Spanish thought Platinum as an element that causes inconvenient to them. There is even one time which the Spanish government got so pissed that he dumped many Platinum into rivers!

Julius Caesar Scaliger

The full description is made after that by a Spanish Military Leader called Don Antonio de Ulloa. He collected samples of Platinum while serving as an army in America between 1735 to 1746. After that, he wrote a report about the metal, which he described in the report how Platinum can be mined and beneficially used. Therefore, Antonio was given the credit of discovering Platinum after he submitted the report.

Antonio de Ulloa

After the report was published, many scientist was eager to research more about this wonderful element. So one of them is the English Chemist called Charles Wood. He was credited as the isolator of Platinum by dissolving Platinum mixtures into Aqua Regia, since Platinum dissolves in Aqua Regia, and others do not.

Charles Wood

Now, Platinum still used the same way Charles Wood isolated Platinum, by dissolving Platinum in Aqua Regia, then removed by the Aqua Regia using Platinum Sponge, which looks like a black colored powder which is called Black Platinum Powder.

Platinum Sponge

Platinum can also be mined, but not purely. Platinum often appear combined with other metals, such as copper and nickel. Platinum was then isolated using the same method mention above, by dissolving Platinum in Aqua Regia.

Because Platinum is one of the rarest elements, and its demand starts to increase after the report submitted by Don Antonio de Ulloa, so Platinum is very expensive. Platinum can be found in 0.01 parts per million in the Earth's Crust. The world largest supplier of Platinum is South Africa, Canada and United States.

Russian Counterfeit Coins

In the old times, where Russians use Gold Coins as their currency, counterfeiters ( people who make fake money ) like to use Platinum plated with Gold and pass them around. After that, the Russian government soon issued legal Platinum coins. The Russian government caused  the Price of 1 Platinum coin rise higher than 1 Gold coins. So, suddenly, counterfeiters stopped making both coins.

Atomic Number : 78

Name : Platinum

Latin Name : Platinum

Electrons per shell : [ 2, 8, 18, 32, 17, 1 ]

Discoverer : Don Antonio de Ulloa ( 1735 )

Isolator : Charles Wood ( 1741 )

Element's : Atomic Mass : 195.08 u

                  : Density : 21.45 g/cm³

                  : Type : Transition Metal

Chemical Properties : 

Platinum - 195

• absorbs large quantities of Hydrogen gas at high temperatures
• doesn't tarnish when exposed to air
• doesn't corrode when exposed to air
• dissolves in Aqua Regia
• dissolves in Hot Alkalis
• not a really reactive metal
• 58 isotopes : 3 of them are :
      Platinum - 194 : Protons : 78
                               : Electrons : 116
                               : Neutrons : 78
    ( Half Life : Stable )
  
      Platinum - 195 : Protons : 78
                               : Electrons : 117
                               : Neutrons : 78
    ( Half Life : Stable )
  
      Platinum - 196 : Protons : 78
                               : Electrons : 118
                               : Neutrons : 78
    ( Half Life : Stable )

Physical Properties : 

• Silver - gray colored
• Shiny
• Malleable
• Ductile
• Hard
• Can be hammered into 100 atoms thick
• Densest elements
• Melting Point : 1773 degrees Celsius ( 3223 Fahrenheit )
• Boiling Point : 3827 degrees Celsius ( 6921 Fahrenheit )

How Platinum got its name?

Platinum got its name from the Spanish word Platina, which means ' Little Silver '. Surprisingly, this is the exactly same name the Natives gave to the metal.

Uses

Platinum has many uses such as making jewelries such as bracelets, earrings, pins, watchbands and many other types of jewelry because of its hard, beautiful and corrosion resistance properties which qualify Platinum as a material to make Jewelries.

Platinum Jewelries

Besides, Platinum is also applied in the Crude Oil industry, where the Crude Oil must be treated by breaking apart , rearrange and put back molecules together in order to obtain Gasoline, Fuel oil and many other Petroleum products. So, Platinum Catalyst will be applied in this industry.

Fertiliser

Platinum Catalysts is also used to make compounds to form fertilizers, drugs, man - made fibres, plastics and many more of other everyday products. For example, the compound used in fertilizers is Nitric Acid ( HNO₃ ), which Platinum is used to manufacture it, and Nitric Acid is used to produce Ammonia, mainly for use in fertilizers.

Cars also contain Platinum in certain parts too. Such as some modern cars which has catalytic converter in their exhaust system. A catalytic converter in the exhaust system is used to burn Gasoline completely. This way, it can reduce the pollutants that are being released into the air. These catalytic converters contain Platinum in order for it to operate.

Different types of Spark Plugs

Certain types of spark plugs in cars or truck also contain Platinum. Platinum usage on spark plugs is the greatest in the United States for manufacturing automobiles and trucks.

Artificial Cardiac Pacemaker

Artificial Pacemakers ( devices to make sure heartbeats in regular pattern ) implanted into our bodies are also made of Platinum because it acts as an replacement organ and also to prevent the Pacemaker from being destroyed by adds inside our body.

Platinum can also be made into the strongest magnet known by making the alloy combination of Platinum and Cobalt. This makes the most strongest magnet known.

THIS IS THE END OF PLATINUM

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