Nickel is a hard, silvery, malleable, and corrosion-resistant metal. It is smoothly polished and has been used as the primary metal in coins.
Nickel was first discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1565. He named the metal after the German word for the devil: “Kupfer”. The word nickel comes from “Kupfer” and “nickel”.
Nickel is a transition metal, which means it is found in the earth’s crust. Nickel is also a hard metal, which means it can resist corrosion and has a high melting point.