Platinum versus Palladium for Dummies

Platinum vs palladium

We just love it here at the Antisocial Network when journalism grads start lecturing people on technical stuff. Since so many of them carefully avoided ever taking a single science course after high school, their grasp of even the rudiments of science would be charming if it weren't so infuriating. Take, for instance J-school grad Kimberly Johnson, who we found at Leaf.tv explaining, sort of, "Palladium Vs. Platinum Rings"¹ (relocated from eHow.com in the Leaf Group reorganization).

Of course, we're not really certain whether Johnson is a scientific illiterate or thought she had to write to her audience back when Demand Media slotted the question under "Home - Dress Up - Fashion," but even the ditziest clothes horse deserves better than some of Kimberly's rubbish, such as the foolishness embedded in her introduction:

"Palladium and platinum are both members of the white metal family and look very similar to each other. While both are common materials for wedding rings and other high-end jewelry, many people cannot tell the difference just by looking at them. Palladium is one of the newer precious metals and, like platinum, is 95 percent pure. However, there are several distinct differences that may make you choose one over the other." Well, Kim, first the two metals are actually in the platinum group, not the "white metals group" (only 900 google search results, as opposed to half a million for "platinum group"). Second, no one but an expert could tell the difference by sight, and probably not then, either. And third, WTF is the meaning of "newer precious metals," anyway? It's not like the element was just created in 1997...

Some of Kimberly's more uninformed factoids include

• "Ounce-per-ounce, platinum weighs about 60 percent more than gold and is significantly heavier than palladium..." Apparently she's trying to discuss differences in density. We're pretty sure all ounces weigh the same, though, Kimberly. Not to mention that "significantly" is not exactly quantitative and platinum is only about 10% denser than gold but 60% denser than palladium...
• "One of the biggest advantages of palladium is that it’s not as dense as platinum. This quality means that it is less expensive..." Ummm, no, Kim, lower density doesn't make palladium less expensive: being less rare makes it less expensive.
• "This lightness makes it an ideal option for large jewelry pieces or rings with large settings." Why would the lower density of palladium make it a better option than platinum for a ring with a large setting? It's the large setting that makes the ring heavier, not the band. Idiot!

Like so many liberal arts majors attempting to explain science, Johnson quickly exposes her ignorance of even basic chemistry and physics with her post. It's times like this we wish we could whup our Dumbass of the Day recipient upside the head with her award. But, sadly, we can't.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   leaf.tv/articles/palladium-vs-platinum-rings/

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