Palladium Palladium Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). These have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them. More than half the supply of palladium
Group 5 element the element dubnium. Vanadium is named for Vanadis, the Scandinavian goddess of love. Niobium is named for Niobe, a figure from Greek mythology. Tantalum is named for Tantalus, a figure from Greek mythology. Dubnium is named for Dubna, Russia, where it was discovered. There are 160 parts per million of vanadium in the earth's crust, making it the 19th most abundant element there. Soil contains on average 100 parts per million of vanadium, and seawater contains 1.5 parts per billion of vanadium. A typical human contains 285 parts per billion of vanadium. Over 60 vanadium ores are known, including vanadinite,