In the late 1700s, scientists were sorting new elements from platinum ores. One element that came out of this work was palladium, named after the asteroid, Pallas . The metal was discovered in 1803.
Palladium is a silver-white metal that is both ductile and malleable.
It is more prone to attack from common acids than other platinum metals . The other platinum metals hardly respond to hydrochloric acid at room temperature. Palladium has an unusual tendency to pick up such gases as hydrogen , and oxygen . Palladium can absorb hydrogen up to 900 times its own volume. It is fairly reactive chemically and readily forms metallic compounds.