Platinum
Pure platinum is a lustrous, ductile, and malleable, silver-white metal. Platinum is more ductile than gold, silver or copper, thus being the most ductile of pure metals, but it is less malleable than gold. The metal has excellent resistance to corrosion, is stable at high temperatures and has stable electrical properties. Platinum does oxidize, forming PtO, at 500 °C; this oxide can be easily removed thermally. It reacts vigorously with fluorine at to form platinum tetrafluoride. It is also attacked by chlorine, bromine, iodine, and sulfur. Platinum is insoluble in hydrochloric and nitric acid, but dissolves in hot "aqua regia" (A mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids), to form chloroplatinic acid, HPtCl.
Metallic bonding
The freedom of conduction electrons to migrate also give metal atoms, or layers of them, the capacity to slide past each other. Locally, bonds can easily be broken and replaced by new ones after the deformation. This process does not affect the communal metallic bonding very much. This gives rise to metals' typical characteristic phenomena of malleability and ductility. This is particularly true for pure elements. In the presence of dissolved impurities, the defects in the structure that function as cleavage points may get blocked and the material becomes harder. Gold, for example, is very soft in pure form (24-karat), which is why alloys of 18-karat or lower are preferred in jewelry.