Platinum is an extremely valuable metal and is used today in a wide variety of industries. For example, platinum is used in making auto catalysts, making jewelry, making computer hard discs, working on dental procedures, making glass, upgrading petroleum, making platinum based drugs and for making many more things. It is one of the best developed metals of our time and its usefulness is seemingly endless.
First, for those who are environmentalists, platinum’s uses are indispensable. Among its other uses, it is being used to make the catalytic converter which is an anti pollution device. This metal, along with palladium and rhodium is being used to coat a part on vehicles which is on the exhaust system. This helps to keep down carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. In addition, oxides of nitrogen help to produce acid rain and smog which can contribute to breathing problems. The addition of platinum helps to dispel all these difficulties.
The second largest demand of platinum is by consumers living in the United States, Japan and China who want platinum jewelry. This metal is in high demand because of its strength and its resistance to being easily tarnished. Archeologists have discovered that Indians in South America used platinum to make their jewelry. These were found in river beds. Earlier examples of platinum jewelry were also found in 7 B.C. in an Egyptian casket. Although, the use of platinum jewelry declined during World War II, it is re-emerging as a star among jewelry enthusiasts.
The third use of platinum, worth mentioning, is that of its use in industries such as dental procedures, computer discs and glass. For dental procedures, “The metals are usually mixed with gold or silver as well as copper and zinc in varying ratios to produce alloys suitable for dental inlays, crowns and bridges.” Consumers, who spend thousands of dollars on dental work each year, are very grateful for these metals that allow them to replace much needed teeth. In addition, almost every household now has a computer in the U.S., Asia and in Europe. Platinum has been outstanding in its ability to help improve the storage capacity of hard discs. It has been added to the cobalt alloy which makes it more magnetic and the result has been a greater capacity for storage on discs. Further use of platinum in industries includes glass. Platinum when used by itself or when combined with rhodium has great ‘strength and resistance to corrosion’. This makes it a very useful tool in making glass for LCD laptops, watches and other items needing a strong glass.
The final area, also in the area of industries is that of upgrading petroleum and making platinum base drugs. The use of using platinum to upgrade the low octane petroleum and making better gasoline for automobiles started in 1949. “Platinum is used in the processes known as reforming and isomerisation, which create the higher octane components for gasoline. Platinum is key to the production of gasoline – without it, refineries would not be able to produce enough gasoline to meet current requirements.” Also, on another note, without platinum, we would not have recent new drugs to fight cancer. Platinum has been found to inhibit the ‘division of living cells’. This helped doctors in their research to find new treatments for many cancerous cells.
In conclusion, Platinum is truly one of the most invaluable metals of the 21st Century. It has been proven to be priceless among the various industries including, but not limited to, the Auto, Dental, Computer, Jewelry and Medical Industries. These various industrious would practically come to an industrial halt in manufacturing without the practical uses of platinum. It is truly one of our God-given natural resources and it has allowed us to create ingenuous new inventions which include possible cures for many ailments. The world is truly thankful for the discovery of this metal called platinum
