This section contains 470 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
Platinum is a silver-grey, lustrous metal element. It has an atomic number of 78, an atomic weight of 195.08, and it is denoted by the atomic symbol, Pt. It melts at 3,215.1°F (1,768.4°C) and boils at about 6,920.6°F (3,827°C). It usually occurs in a native state along with other members of the platinum family: iridium, osmium, palladium, ruthenium, and rhodium.
The first definite mention of platinum occurs in the writings of an Italian physician and poet, Julius Caesar Scalinger. Writing in 1557, he described seeing in mines of South (now Central) America a white metal that "not been possible to melt by fire or by any of the Spanish arts." Miners contemptuously referred to the substance as platina, meaning "little silver." They knew of few uses for the metal and disliked the way it interfered with their recovery of gold.
Apparently native technicians had learned how to...
This section contains 470 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |