Last Updated on August 2, 2021 by
Platinum is a metal—but what an amazing metal it is! It is greyish white in color, and its name comes from the Spanish Plata and means “little silver”.Platinum is harder than copper and almost as pliable as gold. You could take a single ounce of platinum and stretch it out into a fine wire that would reach across Western Europe from Cologne to Moscow. A cube of a platinum measuring 30 centimeters each way would weigh more than half a. tonne. Platinum is almost twice as heavy as lead.
Platinum is usually found in ores often mixed with the rare metals palladium, rhodium, iridium, and osmium, which are called “platinum metals”. Occasionally, it is found with metals such as gold, copper, silver, iron, chromium, and nickel. It is found in the form of small grains, scales, or nuggets.
Large deposits of platinum were first discovered in South America in the eighteenth centiuy. For a great many years it was considered quite useless, and so it was cheap. Then, when people began to find how useful this metal could be, and since it is quite rare, the price went up to the point where that cube of platinum mentioned above would have been worth over a million pounds.
What makes platinum especially useful is that it resists oxidation, acids, and heat. The melting point of platinum is about 1,843 degrees Centigrade. For most purposes, platinum is mixed (alloyed) with one of the other “platinum metals” or with silver, gold, copper, nickel, or tin. While the chief use of platinum is for jewelry, it is also used for contact points where electrical circuits are opened or closed, in laboratory weights, in instruments for exact measurement of temperatures, and for fuses in delicate electrical instruments.
What Is Platinum Used For?
Platinum is used in jewelry, decoration and dental work.
Why is platinum so expensive?
Platinum is a precious metal that is the rarest of all metals, with only a few tons having been produced since the discovery of platinum in the 18th century. Metal is widely used in jewelry and industry, and it is the most expensive metal in the world because of this.
What is platinum made of?
Platinum is a valuable metal. It’s used for jewelry and industrial purposes and is also one of the most expensive metals available. The chemical element that is known by this name is a silvery-white metal. It is commonly found in a natural form that is highly resistant to erosion and tarnishing.
What is the most expensive metal?
It’s always interesting to know about what is the most expensive metal out there. When I was younger I’d hear my older siblings talk about the most expensive metal there is. They would talk about Platinum and Gold but they never really elaborated on the prices. Now I know that Platinum is the most expensive metal and it is not too far behind Gold (which is more expensive to have). I was kind of confused though when I went online and saw how much Gold is actually worth. I found out that if I have a total of 100 dollars and I buy one gram of Gold, it would be worth around $950. Okay, so if I have 100 dollars, I can buy a whole gram of Gold, but
