Palladium

Symbol: Pd
Atomic number: 46
Category: transition metals
Group: 10
Period: 5
Block: d
Atomic weight: 106.42 g/mol
Electrons per shell: 2, 8, 18, 18, 0
CAS number: 7440-05-3
Phase: solid
Density: 12.023 kg/dm³ (near room temperature)
Melting point: 1828.05 K (1554.9 °C, 2830.82 °F)
Boiling point: 3236 K (2963 °C, 5365 °F)
Crystal structure: cubic face centered
Oxidation states: 0, 1, 2, 4, 6
Electronegativity: 2.20 (Pauling scale)
Name's origin: Pallas
Name's meaning: the name of an asteroid which had been discovered two years before the element
Facts:
- is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal
- over half of the supply of palladium and its sister metal platinum goes into catalytic converters, which convert up to 90% of harmful gases from auto exhaust (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide) into less harmful substances (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor)
- is found in many electronics including computers, mobile phones, multi-layer ceramic capacitors, component plating, low voltage electrical contacts, and SED/OLED/LCD televisions
- when palladium supply from Russia was delayed in the year 2000, the market panic drove its price to $1100 per ounce in January 2000. Ford bought it with this price, and when the price dropped in the spring of 2001, Ford had paid nearly $1 billion dollars too much compared to the spring's asking price