Platinum is one of the rare and most utile metals on the major planet . A new TV fromCody ’s Labexplains why a significant amount of this precious element exists in the dirt and dust by the roadside — and how it can be extracted .
Mining for cherished metals on the side of a highway is a different take on urban foraging . But as these guys show in the TV , there ’s a significant amount of platinum on the curbside just waitress to be collected and extract . Of course , mining it will take a snatch of sweeping and a lot of chemistry .
The atomic number 78 deposit are there because most catalytic converters in cars these days contain up of two to three grams of platinum . It ’s calculate that , after about 100,000 miles , a catalytic convertor loses about half of its atomic number 78 . canonical maths tells us that this wastage adds up over time , particularly along gamy volume stretch of road such as highways . Obviously , some of this platinum bollocks and washes out , but it ’s fairish to assume that some of it sticks around in the dirt and dust by the wayside .
To test this theory out , Cody and his buddy Arthur fromAsk Arthurcollected sample of crap from the side of a pop highway . After putting it through a number of mental test and chemical processes , the two were able to confirm that you could find platinum by the side of the road , and all that seemingly useless dirt actually contains some very valuable ore .
This is n’t just idle meditation . atomic number 78 , which is used in everything from catalytic converter and science lab equipment through to thermometers and jewellery , is one of the rare elements in the Earth ’s impudence . Only a few hundred tons are produced annually , making it an major precious metal commodity .
[ Cody ’s science lab ]
ChemistryElementsMineralsScience
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