Platinum Memes

Posts tagged with Platinum

World's Smallest Snowman: Nano-Frosty Takes The Scientific Stage
Materials Research Science Engineering
18 days ago 3.9K views 0 shares
World's Smallest Snowman: Nano-Frosty Takes The Scientific Stage
Scientists have officially gone subatomic with their winter festivities! What you're looking at is a nanoscale snowman created using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) - those aren't snowballs, they're actually tiny platinum nanoparticles stacked and manipulated with incredible precision. The scale bar shows 200 nanometers, meaning this frosty fellow is about 1/500th the width of a human hair! The arms are likely carbon nanotubes or nanowires carefully positioned to complete the classic snowman look. Researchers probably spent hours on this instead of publishing their actual research paper. Priorities, people! The perfect combination of "I have access to millions of dollars of equipment" and "let me make a tiny snowman with it."

Why SHE Is Coated In Black (Pt)
Chemistry Academia Science Materials
1 month ago 3.9K views 0 shares
Why SHE Is Coated In Black (Pt)
Chemistry exam questions getting weirdly personal about platinum! The question is about why SHE (Standard Hydrogen Electrode) is coated with black platinum - it's to increase surface area and roughness for better catalytic activity. But written this way, it sounds like someone's gossiping about a woman's fashion choices! Chemistry professors sneaking in dad jokes since the dawn of periodic tables. Next question: "Why does Na never text back? Too reactive in relationships!"

Noble Metals Meet Their Match
Chemistry Materials Science Lab-life
1 month ago 5.9K views 0 shares
Noble Metals Meet Their Match
The ultimate chemical power move! Gold and platinum acting all tough with their "I fear no man" energy until aqua regia enters the chat. That orange-reddish solution is literally the only mixture that can dissolve these noble metals completely. Even these chemical badasses that resist almost all single acids and bases turn into a dissolved solution when faced with this nitric-hydrochloric acid combo. Chemistry's ultimate mic drop moment - no matter how noble you are, there's always something that can break you down!

I Mean They Are Worth Like 400 Bucks...
Chemistry Lab-life Academia Materials Research
2 months ago 6.3K views 0 shares
I Mean They Are Worth Like 400 Bucks...
The internal monologue of every chemist who's ever "borrowed" lab equipment! That moment when you're using a platinum electrode worth more than your monthly rent, and suddenly you're Gollum from Lord of the Rings... "My precious!" The struggle is real—platinum is currently trading at $950 per ounce, making that little electrode a walking trust fund. Your PI is watching the budget while you're mentally calculating how many ramen dinners that shiny metal stick could fund. The dark side of science nobody talks about: equipment attachment disorder.

Wait I Can Pass Through It?
Chemistry Physics Materials Science
3 months ago 8.5K views 0 shares
Wait I Can Pass Through It?
The hydrogen atom's shocked expression perfectly captures the bizarre reality of quantum tunneling. Hydrogen, being the smallest atom, can literally phase through platinum's crystal lattice structure like it's no big deal. While other elements politely wait outside, hydrogen just... walks through walls. Platinum catalysts exploit this quantum weirdness for all sorts of chemical reactions. It's basically the atomic version of discovering you have superpowers, except instead of celebrating, the hydrogen is just completely freaking out about violating classical physics.