Platinum

From WikiMD's medical encyclopedia

Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platino, meaning "little silver".

Characteristics

Platinum is one of the least reactive metals. It has remarkable resistance to corrosion, even at high temperatures, and is therefore considered a noble metal. Consequently, platinum is often found chemically uncombined as native platinum. Because it occurs naturally in the alluvial sands of various rivers, it was first used by pre-Columbian South American natives to produce artifacts.

Applications

Platinum is used in catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts and electrodes, platinum resistance thermometers, dentistry equipment, and jewelry. Being a heavy metal, it leads to health problems upon exposure to its salts; but due to its corrosion resistance, metallic platinum has not been linked to adverse health effects.

History

Platinum was used for the first time by the pre-Columbian natives of South America. The first European reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of an unknown noble metal found between Darién and Mexico, "which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy".

See also

References


External links

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  • Platin löst sich in heißem Königswasser

  • Platinum nugget

  • Platinum-palladium ore, Stillwater mine MT

  • Sulfidic serpentintite (platinum-palladium ore) Johns-Manville Reef, Stillwater Complex

  • Hexachloridoplatinat Ion

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  • Dichloro(cycloocta-1,5-diene)platinum(II) from xtal 3D balls E

  • Cisplatin 3D balls

  • Platinum symbol

  • Almirante Antonio de Ulloa

  • Platinum Mining

  • Platinum world production

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Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD