All that Glitters Isn't Gold
You've heard of gold right? That one metal that's shiny, tends to be expensive, and that is found in a lot of our jewelry? Of course you have! Gold is something that has attracted the attention of mankind for centuries, mainly due to its rarity and shiny glimmer. Silver is kind of similar, and tends to be precious to us and has that shiny glitter effect. These metals are so important to us there was a Christmas song written about them (Silver and Gold)!
Did you know that there are other metals out there that have that same type of glitter and lustrous shine, and are of great value too? Although silver and gold definitely take the cake when it comes to publicity and popularity, other metals are just as important and need to receive their due credit. In this lesson, we are going to be talking about a metal known as palladium. At the completion of our discussion, we will hopefully have a better understanding of topics like when it was discovered, what it's used for, and some of the important facts about it. Let's dive in!
Discovery of Palladium
Palladium is an element within the periodic table with atomic number 46, and is found in the transition metal region of the table. It has a silvery/white lustrous shine to it, and is found in the same group as the elements nickel and platinum. Palladium was actually used by the Russians in some of their coins for currency.
Russian currency coins made from palladium, a shiny lustrous metal that resembles the shine of silver
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Palladium was actually discovered quite a long time ago, back in 1803 by an English chemist/physicist known as William Hyde Wollaston. Wollaston ended up naming the element after an asteroid called Pallas, which has historic significance in ancient Greek mythology. Palladium is often associated with the elements osmium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, and iridium, which are collectively known as the platinum group metals due to all of these metals having very similar chemical properties.
Uses of Palladium
Now that we've had a small introduction to palladium, let's talk about some of the uses it finds application towards. Did you know that you probably sit on top of palladium every day? That's right, if you ride in or drive a car you sit on top of palladium! You see, most of the palladium that's mined goes into your automobile's catalytic converter. The role of your catalytic converter is to take the harmful gases produced by your car engine like carbon monoxide and convert them to less harmful gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor before they get ejected from your car's tail pipe and into the environment. It turns out palladium does a great job of doing this task.
The most common use of palladium is inside the catalytic converter of an automobile exhaust system
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Other common applications of palladium include its use in jewelry, surgical instruments, automotive and marine spark plugs, and in classical instruments such as flutes. Organic chemists rely heavily on palladium as well, and this element is widely used as a catalyst to help promote various chemical reactions. For example, a carbon-carbon double bond in an organic compound can be hydrogenated (reacted with molecular hydrogen) very easily if a palladium catalyst is employed. The synthetic utility of this reaction lies in the fact that carbon-carbon double bond can be selectively hydrogenated without affecting the carbon-oxygen double bond.
Palladium is used as a catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of carbon-carbon double bonds in organic compounds
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Facts About Palladium
If you ever had to work with palladium or someone asked you what you knew about that particular element what would you tell them? One of the most important facts in regard to any substance is the inherent toxicity it possesses. Thankfully, palladium tends to be rather poorly absorbed by the human body when digested, making it a metal with low toxic effects. Some people have been shown to exhibit allergies to palladium and related metals, so obviously if that's the case you would want to avoid exposure if at all possible.
In terms of production, Russia accounted for about 44% of the world's palladium produced with South Africa producing 40%, Canada with 6%, and finally the United States producing about 5%. Due to its high value and utility, palladium is considered to be one of the 'precious metals' and is widely desired by a variety of industries.
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, we learned that palladium is an element within the periodic table with atomic number 46, and is found in the transition metal region of the table. It has a silvery/white lustrous shine to it, and is found in the same group as the elements nickel and platinum. Palladium was discovered in 1803 by an English chemist/physicist known as William Hyde Wollaston.
In terms of uses, most of the palladium that's produced goes into your automobile's catalytic converter. The role of your catalytic converter is to take the harmful gases produced by your car engine like carbon monoxide and convert them to less harmful gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor before they get ejected from your car's tail pipe and into the environment.
Other common uses of palladium include:
- Use in jewelry
- In surgical instruments
- Spark plugs
- Classical instruments such as flutes
- As a catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of carbon-carbon double bonds in organic compounds
Palladium is considered a low toxicity metal, although some people have reported allergies associated with palladium. Russia has been the world's leading producer of palladium, accounting for about 44% of the market. Other countries like South Africa, Canada, and the United States contribute as well, although on a smaller scale.
