What is platinum? Detailed answer

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What is platinum? Detailed answer

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What is platinum?

Platinum is a metal with unique properties. Its name comes from the Spanish word "plata" meaning "little silver" and is given to it because of its greyish-white coloration. Platinum is almost as malleable as gold. A piece of this metal weighing 30 grams can be drawn into a thin wire so long that it would stretch across half of Europe from the city of Cologne in Germany to Moscow.

Platinum is twice as heavy as lead, and a cube of 30 cm in length, width and height would weigh more than 500 kg. In nature, platinum is found in ores along with other rare metals: ruthenium, palladium, rhodium, iridium and osmium. These elements are called platinum metals. Sometimes it is found in the earth along with gold, silver, copper, iron, chromium and nickel. It is found in the form of small grains, inclusions or nuggets.

For the first time, large deposits of platinum were found in South America in the XNUMXth century. For a long time, this metal did not find much use and therefore was not highly valued. However, later, when people learned to use its unique properties, its price began to rise sharply. In addition, the content of platinum in the earth's crust is so low that the cost of the cube, which we spoke about, exceeds two million dollars on the world market.

Of particular value is the resistance of platinum to oxidizing agents (eg oxygen), acids and heat. Platinum melts at 1843°C and dissolves only in a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. As a rule, it is used in the form of alloys with platinum metals, silver, gold, copper, nickel or tin.

The main area of application of platinum is the jewelry industry, but it is also used for the manufacture of contacts in electrical circuits, analytical balances and other equipment in scientific laboratories, in instruments for accurate temperature measurement, etc.

Author: Likum A.

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