Palladium, element 46 on the periodic table, was discovered by William Hyde Wollaston in 1803 while experimenting with a platinum ore he’d attained in South Africa. He disolved the platinum ore in royal water, or aqua regia, a red or yellow mixture formed by mixing nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, neutralized the solution in sodium hydroxide, and added on a few more procedures before melting it with the result being palladium. Palladium was named after the asteroid Pallas, which was named after the significance of the Greek god Athena who is said to have destroyed a monster named Pallas. Palladium’s symbol, Pd, is merely two letters from the elemt’s name. . The element has a density of 12.023. It’s melting point is 1828.05 K (2830.82 Fehrenheit), and it’s boiling point is 3236 K (5365 Fehrenheit). It’s a metalloid, and, at room temperature, Palladium is a silvery-white solid.

Palladium’s many uses include: helping to make a multilayer ceramic capacitator, purifying gas, forming a catalyst to speed up reactions, jewelry, replacing silver minerals in printings of black-and-white photography. Some of the compounds palladium forms are: organopalladium, palladium hybride, palladium(II) acetate, palladium(II) chloride, palladium(II) cyanide, palladium(II) nitrate, palladium(II) oxide.

Palladium has 46 protons, 46 electrons, and 60 neutrons. It’s mass number is 106. It’s electron configuration is 1s2 2s2p6 3s2p6d10 4s2p6d10

Beginning around 1939, palladium become a much-used substitute for white-gold in jewelry. However, the wearer of palladium jewelry may experience allergic reactions to the jewelry if the palladium is mixed with nickel, as it usually is.