Catalyst of the Week

Catalyst of the Week

I need a catalyst for my internet connection, but
failing that, my catalyst of the week is Platinum.
It's a transition metal, atomic number 78, abbreviated
Pt. It's name comes from the Spanish word for silver,
platina. It is sometimes found in deposits of
gold-bearing sands, even around here, in the western
US -- possibly even in Nevada City, where I used to
live, which is an old gold mining town. It's a soft,
dense, ductile metal that is very resistant to
corrosion, used to make jewelry, wire, electrical
contacts and laboratory vessels, and also to coat
missile nose cones, jet engine fuel nozzles and other
devices that must operate reliably for long periods of
time at high temperatures. Platinum resistance wires
are used in high temperature electric furnaces. It's
melting point is 3215.1 degrees F. (Must be that
extra .1 degree that makes it so useful in furnaces,
huh? : ) )

All this, and it is also widely used as a catalyst.
It will convert methyl alcohol vapors (CH4O -- how do
you get the keyboard to write the 4 in that down low?)
into formaldehyde (CH2O) on contact, glowing red hot
in the process. This effect is used to make small
hand warmers. And I love those things. They're these
little packets, and you shake them and they get warm
and last for hours. Absolutely delightful.

It's also used in cataytic converters, combining
carbon monoxide and unburned fuel from a car's exhaust
with oxygen from the air, forming carbon dioxide and
water vapor. And platinum is used as a catalyst in
fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce
electricity and water.

Pretty AND practical!