Rhodium is a rare, silvery-white, hard and chemically inert transition metal and a member of the platinum group metals. Because of its rarity, rhodium is usually alloyed with platinum or palladium and applied in high-temperature and corrosion-resistive coatings.
The primary use of this element is in automobiles as a catalytic converter, which converts harmful emissions from the engine into less harmful gases.
Rhodium is used in jewelry and for decorations. It is electroplated on white gold and platinum to give it a reflective white surface. This is known as rhodium flashing in the jewelry business. It also may be used in coating sterling silver in order to strengthen the metal from tarnishing.
Solid (pure) rhodium jewelry is very rare, because the metal has both high melting point and poor malleability (making such jewelry very hard to fabricate) rather than due to its high price.
Rhodium has also been used for honours, or to symbolize wealth, when more commonly used metals such as silver, gold or platinum are deemed insufficient. In 1979 the Guinness Book of World Records gave Paul McCartney a rhodium-plated disc for being history's all-time best-selling songwriter and recording artist.
"Source: Rhodium. (2010, March 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, March 26, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodium