Discovery date : Known to native South Americans before Columbus,
and taken to Europe around 1750
Discovered by: -
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the Spanish 'platina', meaning little silver.
Allotropes : -
~>PLATINUM is a chemical element with 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 platina, meaning little silver.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 10 | Melting point | 1768.2°C, 3214.8°F, 2041.4 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 3825°C, 6917°F, 4098 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 21.5 |
| Atomic number | 78 | Relative atomic mass | 195.084 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 195Pt |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f145d96s1 | CAS number | 7440-06-4 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22381 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Probably the oldest worked specimen of platinum is that from an ancient Egyptian casket of the 7th century BC, unearthed at Thebes and dedicated to Queen Shapenapit. Otherwise this metal was unknown in Europe and Asia for the next two millennia, although on the Pacific coast of South America, there were people able to work platinum, as shown by burial goods dating back 2000 years.
In 1557 an Italian scholar, Julius Scaliger, wrote of a metal from Spanish Central America that could not be made to melt and was no doubt platinum. Then, in 1735, Antonio Ulloa encountered this curious metal, but as he returned to Europe his ship was captured by the Royal Navy and he ended up in London. There, members of the Royal Society were most interested to hear about the new metal, and by the 1750s, platinum was being reported and discussed throughout Europe.