Q 01/05

What is platinum's atomic number?

A) 79

B) 78

C) 46

D) 77

Answer · why

B) 78

Its symbol is Pt; gold is 79 and palladium, its lighter sibling, is 46.

Q 02/05

Platinum's name comes from the Spanish 'platina', a diminutive meaning what?

A) White gold

B) Heavy stone

C) Pale metal

D) Little silver

Answer · why

D) Little silver

The Spanish at first regarded it as an annoying impurity in gold and often threw it away.

Q 03/05

Platinum sits in which numbered column of the periodic table?

A) 11

B) 8

C) 12

D) 10

Answer · why

D) 10

It is also one of the six platinum-group metals along with ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium and iridium.

Q 04/05

How many naturally occurring isotopes does platinum have?

A) Two

B) Six

C) Four

D) Five

Answer · why

B) Six

Platinum-195, about 34 percent of the total, is the only stable one with a non-zero spin, making it useful in NMR.

Q 05/05

Platinum is the most ductile of all pure metals, beating which three?

A) Iron, nickel and lead

B) Gold, silver and copper

C) Aluminium, zinc and tin

D) Titanium, tungsten and iridium

Answer · why

B) Gold, silver and copper

Its resistance to wear and tarnish is why it suits fine jewelry.