The purest of metals

In a Ben Bridge commercial, I heard a reference to platinum, "the purest of metals". This is complete nonsense, since purity is not an attribute of chemical elements. It makes sense to say that a particular piece of metal is more or less pure platinum, but it does not make sense to say that platinum itself is pure. Nor is purity a particularly desirable attribute! We make alloys for all sorts of good reasons.

I did some googling, and found that "the purest of metals" is a common marketing phrase in the jewelry business. Most platinum jewelry is either 90% pure (10% iridium) or 95% pure (5% ruthenium). In comparison, sterling silver is 92.5% pure, and 22K gold is 91.7% pure.

However, the aluminum foil in your kitchen is 98.5% pure! So, this holiday season, if you care enough to give your loved ones "the purest of metals", forget platinum. It's not that pure. Instead, give them lovingly wadded lumps of 98.5% pure aluminum.