(Spanish. platina, silver) Discovered in South America by Ulloa in 1735 and Wood in 1741. Pre-Columbian Indians used platinum. Found in sperrylite and with small quantities of iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium in deposits in Columbia, the US, Ontario and the Ural mountains (USSR).
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silvery-white, transition metal, malleable, ductile, does not oxidize in air, corroded by halogens, cyanides, sulfur and alkalis, expensive
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sealed electrodes in glass systems, jewelry, wire, laboratory vessels, corrosion-resistant equipment, dentistry, missile parts, jet endine fuel nozzles, pipelines, steel piers, used to produce lighters, possible use as antipollution device in cars, ocean vessels