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why did it take over gold?

did the past centuries know about it?

how long has it been around?

what part of the world has the most?

( i could find out by google, but whats the fun in that?)

Good question but I really have no idea.Anyone have an idea on this question?JM

I did chem in high school, so should know... from what I remember of the top of my head, without looking at my old books, it is rarer then gold, and technically more valuable, but as to it "over taking gold", while it might make sense to have platinum medals at the Olympics, as it is more valuable, it is far to rare. And yes, it was known of in past centuries. It was used to some extent by South American Indians, but only really became known to the world after the Spanish conquests (so about 16th or 17th centuries).

Largest deposits I think are in Siberia (Russia) and Africa, but even there it is very rare.

And its a naturally occuring metal, so its probably been around for millions of years at least, its only been known about for a few hundred.

platinum is more heavy than gold and more expensive, and that's all i know

Platinum comes out of Rappers teeth.

It's a metallic substance that does not naturally grow/ is made on earth, the large deposits were from comets, meteors and other junk flying around in space. if i remember rightly it' works the same way as diamonds, put enough pressure onto ash (human, dog anything with carbon) and it will form into a diamond with some scientific magic... though the process cost more then the diamoind is worth. Platinum as far as i know is another material compressed over billions of years in space, forming asteroids...

I know that it was discovered in South America by Ulloa in 1735 and by Wood in 1741. The metal was used by pre-Columbian Indians.

And about a century ago it was worth like 8 times the value of gold

its used in exhausts as a catalyst to convert dangeous gases

I guess that explains why car repairs cost so much!


I know if you ask to have a ring made of platinum, they ask for the spelling of the other persons name.

If you ask for a ring made of platinum, they don't really give you one, dumb scammers.

Gold now a days costs $300 per ounce, and platinum costs $712 per ounce, in case anyone was wondering.

i was just pondering how much gold cost, actually

Platinum is too rare to gather in large amounts.

It used to be thought of as "unripe gold!"

what a coincidence since shit comes from between the teeth of the majority of rappers.... connection there?

I thought Diamond was the most valuable substance on earth? Is platinum more valuable

platinum like gold is a chemical element number 78 symbol Pt (Gold is Au number 79). Because of it qualities being rather similar to gold and the fact that it also doesn't tarnish, it is very useful in making conductive wire and is used as a catalyst in some chemical reactions.

The reason why it's valuable it largely due to the fact that it's rare and that people want it. Technetium is far rarer but no-one wants it. Two things will determine the value of something - how much of it there is, and how many people want it.

Read yourself silly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum