Palladium

Discovered by William Wollaston of England in 1803, palladium is named after the asteroid Pallas. Why? Because the asteroid was found in 1803 in the same time frame as palladium. Pallas is also the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Palladium itself is nothing like the asteroid- it is a steel white metal that never tarnishes in air. It is a very soft metal, and so has the lowest melting point AND density of all platinum metals. Palladium CAN become a harder, stronger metal, but only through the process of cold-working. Palladium can be crushed flat into a leaf that is as thin as an astonishing 1/250,000 of an inch.

Palladium is a good alloying agent and is often used by dentists and jewelry makers- and by us, as it is also used to make surgical instruments, electrical contacts, and watches. Fun fact: white gold is actually an alloy of gold that has been decolorized by use of- you guessed it- palladium.