Name       : Platinum
Symbol     : Pt
Atomic #   : 78
Atom weight: 195.08
Melting P. : 1772
Boiling P. : 3827
Oxidation  : +2, +4
Pronounced : Plat-n-em
From       : Spanish platina, "silver"
Identified : Antonio de Ulloa in 1735
Appearance : Very heavy, soft, silvery-white metal
Note       : The focal point of an important group of elements known as
             the platinum metals, which includes palladium, iridium,
             osmium, rhodium, platinum, and ruthemnium.
             
[Properties]

  Platinum is described as a silvery-white, dense metal that is quite
malleable and ductile when pure. Its coefficient of expansion is very close
to that of glass, so it is often used as electrode material in sealed glass
electron and X-ray tubes.
  This metal in immune to oxidation in air, thus accounting for the fact
that it is usually found in nature in its elemental form. Platinum is
also immure to most acids, including hydrochloric acid. However, it 
dissolves readily in aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids,
to form chloroplatinic acid.
  Platinum is a Group-VIII transition metal.