* Palladium is a member of the transition metals family:
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PALLADIUM / Pd / 46
A lustrous, silvery-white, malleable, and ductile metal with good
resistance to corrosion. Six isotopes are found in nature:
Pd<106/46> / 27.5%
Pd<108/46> / 26.5%
Pd<105/46> / 22%
Pd<110/46> / 12%
Pd<104/46> / 11%
Pd<102/46> / 1%
All are stable.
atomic weight: 106.42
abundance: 76th
density: 12.02 gm/cc
melting point: 1,554 C
boiling point: 2,970 C
valence: 2 3 4
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Palladium is one of the "platinum" metals. It is produced from nickel ores at a level of a few hundred tonnes a year, the bulk of it as a catalyst for automotive catalytic converters. It is also used in electronics for electrical contacts; in some dental alloys with silver, mostly used in Japan; and in jewelry, usually as an alloy with gold known as "white gold". It is noted for its ability to adsorb several thousand times its own volume of hydrogen gas.
