Platinum
...means that it can be made into wire and hammered into thin sheets. • An important chemical property of platinum is that it doesn’t oxidize. Because of this, Platinum doesn’t stain when it is exposed to the open, and it doesn’t combine easily with other elements. • Other chemical properties include Platinum’s resistance to most types of acids. This is an important property because Platinum’s strength to things such as acids is often used to create machine parts that don’t corrode easily. • Because of its inertness, Platinum is also used in laboratory apparatuses • When people use Platinum in machinery, an element known as iridium is added to Platinum to increase the hardness and durability. This make objects such as catalyst converters last longer. • Platinum in often alloyed with gold to make jewelry. • Most commonly used as a catalyst and is used in a device called a catalytic converter that is used in cars. • Fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water, also use Platinum as a catalyst. • Platinum is resistant to corrosion. Because of this, it is used in protection systems to prevent ships, pipelines, and steel piers from corroding in salt water. • Lastly, platinum is used to coat missile noses cones, jet engine fuel nozzles htat allow them to operate reliably for long periods of time at high temperatures. Platinum The element platinum possesses a number of properties that make it valuable. With the exception of gold and silver, platinum is the element easiest to shape—it can be formed and worked in nearly every way possib...