Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Here are some facts about platinum:
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Platinum is a highly valued and desired metal, with a wide range of uses, including jewelry, catalytic converters, electrical contacts, pacemakers, medication, and magnets.
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Platinum is rare, with only about 5 parts per billion by weight in Earths crust, making it very pricey.
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Platinum is extremely resistant to tarnishing and corrosion, which makes it known as a "noble metal." It is also very soft and malleable, making it easy to shape, and ductile, making it easy to stretch into wire.
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Platinum is one of the transition metals, a group that includes gold, silver, copper, and titanium, and most of the elements in the middle of the periodic table.
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Platinum is actually about 30 times rarer than gold, and if all the platinum ever mined were melted and poured into an Olympic-sized pool, the platinum would barely reach your ankles. Gold, however, would fill three pools.
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Platinum is silvery-white and shiny, and it looks similar to white gold, which can be confusing to the untrained eye.
