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Maddie Roth
Ms. Gendreau
CP Physical Science
Period 4
October 22, 2012

Elements: Platinum
The element platinum was discovered in 1557 by Julius Scaliger while he was on a
trip in South America. He is not the first to discover this metal, the Ancient Egyptians
also used platinum in the famous Casket of Thebes. Platinum gets its name from the
Spanish word platina, meaning little silver. Platinums element symbol is Pt. Though
Julius Scaliger gets most of the credit for the discovery of platinum he wasnt the first to
write a full report on the element. Don Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish military leader, was
the first to write a full report on platinum in 1746. Platinum is not found in many
countries but is found in Colombia, Russia, Canada, and South Africa.
Platinum is the heaviest of all the precious metals and only 133 tons are mined
annually. Also more than 90% of platinum is mined in South Africa and Russia. The
atomic mass of platinum is 195.078 amu and the atomic number is 78. There are also 78
protons and 78 electrons. The reason why there are an equal number of protons and
electrons is because atoms are electrically balance particles. Since protons have a positive
charge and electrons have a negative charge they balance each other out. There are also
117 neutrons; since neutrons dont have a charge there can be any number over one.

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Platinum has special physical properties that make it very useful in many
industries such as gasoline, anti-cancer drugs, fiber-optic cables, eyeglasses, fertilizers,
explosives, paints and pacemakers. It has very unique properties that make it wanted by
so many consumers. Some of the properties include catalyzing agent and its highly
conductive. Platinum has a melting point of 1,768 degrees celsius and the boiling point of
platinum is 3,825 degrees celsius. The density of platinum is 21.45 g/cm3 and it is 4.5
Mohs. Platinum is a solid at room temperature and is a silvery-white, shiny and smooth.
One of platinums best uses in in jewelry. Most platinum mined is used for very
expensive jewelry. Platinum is found as a solid and in its pure form it is also found as a
solid. Most platinum compounds are found in a crystalline-solid. Some examples of
platinum solids are PtF4, which is also known as platinum tetrafluoride, and PtCl3, which
is also known as platinum trichloride. According to Emin from gold-refining.org, the
process to purifying platinum is, 1) Completely dissolve the scrap metal in Aqua Regia
(AR)
2) Filter the insoluble Silver Chloride (AgCl) out of the AR.
3) Add Iron Sulfate or Gold Sulfite to the AR,
in order to precipitate gold.
4) Filter out the precipitate.
5) Add Zinc powder to the remaining AR,
in order to precipitate all other metals.
6) Filter out the Zinc precipitate
(which contains Cu and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs))

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and discard the AR.

7) Wash the precipitate thoroughly.
8) Add the Zn/Cu/PGM precipitate to a mixture of dilute sulfiric acid
and hydrogen peroxide.
This will dissolve the Zn and Cu, but leave the PGMs on the
bottom.
9) Filter out the PGM and boil it in Nitric Acid,
in order to remove Palladium
9b) Filter off the nitric and use zinc and sulfiric acid
to reclaim the Palladium
10) Boil the remaining PGMs of Pt, Rd, and Ir in AR acid.
10b) Rd and Ir sink
10c) Pt dissolves in the AR
11) Filter out the Rd and Ir
12) Add Zinc to the AR that only has Pt left in it.
13) Filter out the precipitate.
14) Wash the zinc/platinum precipitate in sulfuric acid to remove Zn.
15) Melt the final platinum powder with an oxy torch. Platinum has many uses such as
jewelry, neurosurgical and dental work, its in medicine for cancer treatment and it is also
used in car catalysts which prevent bad emissions from entering the atmosphere.
The economic impact the platinum has is that there is a lot of fighting in foreign
countries over the mines, especially in South Africa. There is a lot of violence in the

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country do to the fact that a lot of other countries claim to own the mine. This violence
can cause some hurt on the economy but overall platinum is a useful source. The
economic importance of platinum is it has a lot of medical and industrial uses so it helps
boost the economy. How life and the world would be different if there was no platinum
would be that many would die from heart problems since pacemakers would not be
invented because p
latinum comes into play with pacemaker production. There also wouldnt be any
auto catalysts to prevent harmful emissions into the atmosphere and a lot of cancer
medicines would not be discovered.
Overall, platinum is a very useful element and without it the world would not be as
advanced as it is today.