[: RU] What do you think is the most expensive substance on Earth. Many will think that it is gold, platinum, drugs or diamonds. However, this is not the case. The most expensive substances in the world are those that you could not think of. We bring to your attention a rating of the 15 most expensive substances in the world.
The 14th place belongs to the metal - Rhodium (Rh), 45), cost $ 58 per gram. Rhodium - an element of a secondary subgroup of the eighth group of the fifth period of the periodic system of chemical elements of D.I.Mendeleev - a solid transition metal of silvery-white color. A noble metal of the platinum group.
13th place. Platinum (Spanish Platina) - an element of group 10 with atomic number 78; noble metal of steel gray color. $ 60 per gram.
12th place. Methamphetamine is an amphetamine derivative, a white crystalline substance. Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant with an extremely high potential for addiction, and therefore it is classified as a narcotic substance. Cost $ 100 per gram
11th place. Rhino horn - of great value to bone carvers. It is also used as a medicine. Medicines made from rhino horns are highly prized, and are included in traditional Chinese recipes, including elixirs of longevity and "immortality." Cost - $ 110 per gram
10th place - Heroin - a derivative of morphine, or diamorphine - a semi-synthetic opioid drug, used as a drug in the late 19th century - early 20th century. Currently, most of the opioid addicts use heroin, this is due to its pronounced narcotic effect, relative cheapness and rapidly developing physical and psychological dependence. Cost - $ 130 per gram
9th place - Cocaine. It is the second, after opiates, "problem drug" (a drug, the abuse of which is a significant socio-economic problem). Due to the geographical proximity of the cultivation areas of the coca bush and the production of chemically pure cocaine, the use of this substance is predominantly common in North and South America. Cost - $ 215 per gram
8th place - LSD. LSD is a semi-synthetic psychoactive substance from the lysergamide family. LSD may be considered the most famous psychedelic, used or used as a recreational drug, and as a tool in various transcendental practices. Cost - $ 3000 per gram
7th place - Plutonium (Pu; atomic number 94) - a heavy brittle radioactive metal of a silvery-white color. It is located in the actinide family on the periodic table. Cost - $ 4000 per gram
6th place - Painite - $ 9000 per gram, or $ 1800 per carat. Painite is a mineral from the borate class. It was first discovered in Mogok (Burma, now Myanmar) in 1956. It got its name in honor of its discoverer, the British mineralogist Arthur Payne. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the rarest mineral in the world.
5th place - Taaffeit - $ 20,000 per gram, or $ 4,000 per carat. A very rare mineral, discovered in an unusual way thanks to the observation of Count Taaffe, in whose honor it is named. A lilac gemstone is said to be a million times rarer than diamonds. Due to its extreme rarity, it is used only as a gem.
4th place - Tritium - $ 30,000 per gram. Tritium - superheavy hydrogen, denoted by the symbols T and 3H - a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It is used in biology and chemistry as a radioactive label, in experiments to study the properties of neutrinos, in thermonuclear weapons as a source of neutrons and at the same time as thermonuclear fuel.
So, the three most expensive substances in the world. In 3rd place - Diamond, cost $ 55,000 per gram. A diamond is a diamond that has been given a special shape through processing that maximizes its natural brilliance.
2nd place - California 252 - $ 27,000,000 per gram. Californium is a radioactive chemical element of the seventh period of the periodic table, actinoid. Silver-white radioactive metal.
"Unstable" element
It is estimated that only about 30 grams of this substance exist in nature. During the life of D.I. Mendeleev, who discovered the periodic law, this element has not yet been discovered - its existence was only predicted by scientists. The unknown element was assigned the serial number 85. And only in 1943 it was discovered in nature. True, not long before that, in 1940, this element was obtained artificially in a laboratory.
The name of this rare substance, which is black and blue crystals, is astatine. The name comes from the Greek word "astatos" which literally means "unstable". And the element fully corresponds to the name given to it: its life is short, the half-life is only 8.1 hours. Astatine was found in the decay products of radon, uranium and thorium. Tiny amounts of astatine in the earth's crust were detected by trapping radiation characteristic of the substance.
Astatine properties
Rare and elusive astatine practically does not dissolve in water, but it easily evaporates in air and in vacuum. But most of its properties are still poorly understood due to the difficulty of obtaining astatine for research. The question remains unresolved whether astatine belongs to metals or non-metals. In its chemical properties, it approaches the non-metal iodine and the metal polonium. Mendeleev himself called the then unknown substance "eka-iodine".
Basically, astatine isotopes are obtained by irradiation of metallic bismuth or thorium with high-energy α-particles, followed by separation of astatine by coprecipitation, extraction, chromatography or distillation. Melting point 302 ° C, boiling point (sublimation) 337 ° C.
Astatine is a poisonous substance. Inhalation of it in a very small amount can cause severe irritation and inflammation of the respiratory tract, and a large concentration leads to severe poisoning.
Influence on the body
One of the properties that astatine and iodine have in common is its ability to concentrate in the thyroid gland. Moreover, its effect on the thyroid gland is similar to iodine, only the effect of astatine is stronger. In addition, a reliable means of removing astatine from the body has been found - thiocyanate ions, which makes it possible to minimize the harmful effect on other organs and tissues. Such properties of astatine make it promising for its use in medicine.
But the astatine still has many secrets and mysteries that are scattered in nature and elusive just like he himself. Even tiny particles of it are probably fraught with great possibilities that humanity has yet to discover.
Everyone knows that diamonds are expensive creations of nature and are loved by women. Many people know that platinum is more expensive than gold. But what about painite, taaffeite, which are a million times less common than diamond, what about tritium?
We offer you a list of the most expensive substances, both natural and synthetic.
Rhodium
$ 45 per gram
Rhodium is one of the rarest metals in the Earth, of the platinum group. It is not found in minerals in nature, only in the form of a simple compound in nickel and platinum ores. In Russia there is a unique ore found near Nevyansk - nevyanskite - it has the highest rhodium content - up to 11 percent or more. The price of rhodium is highly dependent on the state of the automotive industry - this is where it is most used in catalytic filters - exhaust converters, so now it is relatively low. Peak values reached $ 200 per gram. Rhodium is also used to make mirrors for high-power lasers, gratings for spectrometers, and other unique and rare processes and industries.
Platinum
$ 48 per gram
This metal was brought to Europe by the conquistadors, and its name has the root of the word "silver" (plata). The Incas had known him for hundreds of years before. The metal is very rare, and even in its purest form, it is always mined with 20-30% of impurities. Interestingly, in the beginning, platinum was much cheaper than gold, and was used for jewelry fakes as an alloy with gold. And now, due to its high density and unique chemical properties, it is in great demand in high-tech production as a catalyst, as a compound in anti-cancer drugs, as a laboratory metal, etc., so its price is invariably high. By the way, 90% of platinum is mined by five countries of the world: Russia, USA, China, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Plutonium
$ 4,000 per gram
Plutonium is the main radioactive metal used in the nuclear industry: military, space, energy. With the help of plutonium, already subsequent more active radionuclides are synthesized. Most of the commercial plutonium is synthesized. This metal was named in 1940 after the planet Pluto, which was discovered 10 years earlier. The logic of Glenn Seaborg, one of the discoverers of plutonium, was that the 92nd element of the chemical table is uranium, the 93rd was named neptunium, so let the 94th be named after the third planet from Uranus - Pluto.
Taaffeite
From 2,500 to 20,000 per gram, depending on the quality of the stone
A gemologist with Austrian-Irish roots, Count Richard Taaffe, in November 1945, discovered an unusual stone in a surveyed batch of cut stones. He sent it to a laboratory in London, and so a new mineral was discovered - intermediate between spinel and chrysoberyl. The first finds were all fiery, and in nature the stone was found later in Sri Lanka and China. This stone is a million times rarer than a diamond and is used only as a jewel.
Tritium
$ 30,000 per gram
It is a superheavy radioactive isotope of hydrogen. In nature, it appears in the upper atmosphere when the nuclei of atoms come under the influence of cosmic radiation. In Russia, tritium is produced at the Mayak plant. Tritium is used for the purposes of nuclear energy and military atom, but not only. It is especially in demand in the USA. They make self-luminous exit signs using tritium in cinemas and other public buildings. There are more than two million of them.
Diamond
A clear-cut diamond a carat in size can cost, per gram, $ 65,000
This cubic allotropic form of carbon, whose name is translated from Greek as "indestructible", has the highest density among minerals, and therefore is used in a huge number of industrial processes. It is unnecessary to talk about using a diamond as a decoration.
Painite
$ 300,000 per gram
The rarest mineral in the world, listed for this in the Guinness Book of Records and is not used anywhere for the same reason. All known crystals found, and there are no more than 30 of them, are in private collections, as well as in the British Museum of Natural History, the California Institute of Technology and the Gem Research Laboratory in Lucerne. Painite was recently found in Myanma, but it is no longer clean. There are hopes that other crystals will be found in that deposit.
Californium
252 $ 27,000,000 per gram
This radioactive volatile chemical element was obtained at the University of California, which is why it was named so. It is used in radiation therapy of tumors. And also for various complex chemical tasks, such as neutron activation analysis, which determines the concentration of elements in a sample.
Antimatter
$ 100 trillion per gram
It has not yet been properly received, but experts have already calculated its price. Physicists have discovered the existence of antimatter, but they will not understand why it is nowhere to be found. The absence of antimatter in nature is one of the philosophical problems of physics. Scientists say that the interaction of a kilogram of matter and a kilogram of antimatter will release about the same amount of energy as in the explosion of a 26.5-ton nuclear bomb, the largest ever tested on the planet, and then the super-problems of physics can be solved, which are now studied only in theory. due to lack of energy. Now antimatter is produced only in primary experiments. Production of a milligram of positrons at NASA in 2006 cost $ 25 million.
We all know about metals such as aluminum, iron, chromium, platinum, gold. All of them are familiar to us and are the most common. But there are also such metals, the name of which is completely unfamiliar to many people. Let's find out what is the rarest metal on Earth, and what characteristics it has.
Rhenium: resistant and rare
The rarest metal in the world - rhenium can rightfully be considered as such, the appearance of which was predicted by Mendeleev in 1870. In those days, the great chemist claimed that very soon a compound with an atom weight of 180 would be discovered. However, many scientists fought over this, but they managed to discover a previously unknown metal only in 1925. Walter and Ida Noddack discovered a sustainable material that was named after the German river Rhine.
Many people do not even know about the existence of this rarest metal, but in the industry they know about it firsthand - the value of rhenium is recognized as much higher than the value of platinum. In 1992, a rare rhenium deposit was discovered, which is located in Russia - on the Kudryavy volcano (South Kuril Islands). Today this field is in the stage of active formation. However, it is quite difficult to extract this most rare metal - to get a kilogram of material, you need to extract at least 2000 tons of molybdenum and copper ore. About forty tons of the rarest metal can be obtained per year.
Rare metal characteristics
This metal can be classified as one of the most refractory. But, despite this, it is quite flexible. Easily forging, rolling, wire drawing. But the plastic properties of the material directly depend on how pure the rhenium obtained is. Since this element will be more plastic than tungsten, the demand for it is somewhat higher. But it is sometimes difficult to use this metal due to its high cost. Rhenium can even be considered the most expensive metal. For example, in 1969. for one kilogram of the rarest element in powder form, it was necessary to pay about $ 1300.
An important quality of rhenium is its excellent heat resistance. It is inherent in this material to retain its strength at 2000 degree temperature conditions much better than that inherent in molybdenum, tungsten, niobium. In addition, the strength of rhenium is higher than that of these metals, which are difficult to melt. The rare metal also has a high resistance to corrosion, which makes the material similar to platinum.
In its compact form, rhenium has a silvery color. If you store it at low temperatures, then for years it will not lose its appearance and will not fade. The oxidation process of rhenium can be observed at a temperature of 300 degrees, and more intense oxidation will occur at temperatures above 600 degrees. This property means that the metal is much more resistant to oxidation than tungsten or molybdenum, and also does not tend to react with nitrogen and hydrogen.
Use of rhenium
Due to the excellent combination of chemical and physical characteristics of this metal, it is used in those industries where the use of expensive metals is necessary to achieve the desired results. As a rule, rhenium is used for alloys, which in the end are cheaper than itself. And rhenium is directly used for the manufacture of important small parts. Rhenium is also used to coat other metals.
Rhenium is used for the creation of high-octane gasoline, the manufacture of high-precision equipment, the production of filters that allow cleaning car exhaust. But it is almost impossible to use rhenium on a wider scale due to its scarcity in nature and, therefore, its high cost.
Another rare element in the earth's crust
Astatine is recognized as such, which in the earth's crust, according to scientists, contains only 0.16 g. This element of the periodic table was officially discovered in 1940. It is rather difficult to study the characteristics of astatine experimentally due to its small amount. However, this radioactive element is of great interest to scientists today, since it was found out that it can be used in the fight against cancer cells.
There are 94 chemical elements in nature. To date, 15 more transuranic elements (elements from 95 to 109) have been artificially obtained, the existence of 10 of them is indisputable.
The most common
Lithosphere. Oxygen (O), 46.60% by weight. Discovered in 1771 by Karl Scheele (Sweden).
Atmosphere. Nitrogen (N), 78.09% by volume, 75.52% by weight. Discovered in 1772 by Rutherford (Great Britain).
Universe. Hydrogen (H), 90% of the total substance. Discovered in 1776 by Henry Cavendish (Great Britain).
The rarest (out of 94)
Lithosphere. Astatine (At): 0.16 g in the earth's crust. Discovered in 1940 by Corson (USA) with collaborators. The naturally occurring isotope astatine 215 (215 At) (discovered in 1943 by B. Karlik and T. Bernert, Austria) exists in an amount of only 4.5 nanograms.
Atmosphere. Radon (Rn): only 2.4 kg (6 · 10 –20 volume of one part per 1 million). Opened in 1900 by Dornom (Germany). The concentration of this radioactive gas in the areas of granite deposits is believed to be the cause of a number of cancers. The total mass of radon in the earth's crust, from which atmospheric gas reserves are replenished, is 160 tons.
The easiest
Gas. Hydrogen (H) has a density of 0.00008989 g / cm 3 at a temperature of 0 ° C and a pressure of 1 atm. Discovered in 1776 by Cavendish (Great Britain).
Metal. Lithium (Li), with a density of 0.5334 g / cm 3, is the lightest of all solids. Discovered in 1817 by Arfvedson (Sweden).
Maximum density
Osmium (Os), with a density of 22.59 g / cm 3, is the heaviest of all solids. Opened in 1804 by Tennant (Great Britain).
Heaviest gas
It is radon (Rn), the density of which is 0.01005 g / cm 3 at 0 ° C. Opened in 1900 by Dornom (Germany).
Last received
Element 108, or unniloktia (Uno). This provisional name was given by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Obtained in April 1984 by G. Münzenberg and colleagues (West Germany), who observed only 3 atoms of this element in the laboratory of the Society for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. In June of the same year, it was reported that this element had also been received by Yu.Ts. Oganesyan with colleagues at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, USSR.
A single unification atom (Une) was produced by bombarding bismuth with iron ions in the laboratory of the Heavy Ion Research Society, Darmstadt, West Germany, on August 29, 1982. It has the largest ordinal number (element 109) and the largest atomic mass (266) ... According to the most preliminary data, Soviet scientists observed the formation of an isotope of element 110 with an atomic mass of 272 (tentatively called ununnilium (Uun)).
The cleanest
Helium-4 (4 He), obtained in April 1978 by P.V. McLintock of Lancaster University, USA, has less than 2 parts of impurities per 10 15 parts of volume.
The hardest
Carbon (C). In allotropic form, diamond has a hardness according to the Knoop method - 8400. It has been known since prehistoric times.
Dearest
California (Cf) was selling at $ 10 per microgram in 1970. Opened in 1950 by Seaborg (USA) with employees.
The most flexible
Gold (Au). From 1 g, you can pull out a wire 2.4 km long. Known since 3000 BC.
Highest tensile strength
Boron (V) - 5.7 GPa. Opened in 1808 by Gay-Lussac and Thenard (France) and H. Davy (Great Britain).
Melting / boiling point
Lowest. Among non-metals, helium-4 (4He) has the lowest melting point –272.375 ° С at a pressure of 24.985 atm and the lowest boiling point –268.928 ° С. Helium was discovered in 1868 by Lockyer (Great Britain) and Jansen (France). Monatomic hydrogen (H) must be a non-liquefiable superfluid gas. Among metals, the corresponding parameters for mercury (Hg) are –38.836 ° С (melting point) and 356.661 ° С (boiling point).
The tallest. Among non-metals, the highest melting point and boiling point is for carbon (C) known from prehistoric times: 530 ° C and 3870 ° C. However, it seems controversial that graphite is stable at high temperatures. Passing at 3720 ° C from a solid to a vapor state, graphite can be obtained as a liquid at a pressure of 100 atm and a temperature of 4730 ° C. Among metals, the corresponding parameters for tungsten (W) are 3420 ° C (melting point) and 5860 ° C (boiling point). Discovered in 1783 by H.H. and F. d "Eluyaram (Spain).
Isotopes
The largest number of isotopes (36 for each) is found in xenon (Xe), discovered in 1898 by Ramsay and Travers (Great Britain), and in cesium (Cs), discovered in 1860 by Bunsen and Kirchhoff (Germany). The smallest amount (3: protium, deuterium and tritium) in hydrogen (H) was discovered in 1776 by Cavendish (Great Britain).
Most stable. Tellurium-128 (128 Te), according to double beta decay data, has a half-life of 1.5 · 10 24 years. Tellur (Te) was discovered in 1782 by Müller von Reichenstein (Austria). The isotope 128 Te was first discovered in its natural state in 1924 by F. Aston (Great Britain). The data on its superstability were again confirmed in 1968 by the studies of E. Alexander Jr., B. Srinivasan and O. Manuel (USA). The alpha decay record belongs to samarium-148 (148 Sm) - 8 10 15 years. The beta decay record belongs to the isotope of cadmium 113 (113 Cd) - 9 · 10 15 years. Both isotopes were discovered in their natural state by F. Aston, respectively, in 1933 and 1924. The radioactivity of 148 Sm was discovered by T. Wilkins and A. Dempster (USA) in 1938, and the radioactivity of 113 Cd in 1961 was discovered by D. Watt and R. Glover (Great Britain).
Most unstable. The lifetime of lithium-5 (5 Li) is limited to 4.4 · 10 –22 s. The isotope was first discovered by E. Titterton (Australia) and T. Brinkley (Great Britain) in 1950.
Liquid range
Considering the difference between the melting point and boiling point, the element with the shortest liquid series is the inert gas neon (Ne) - only 2.542 degrees (from -248.594 ° C to -246.052 ° C), while the longest liquid series (3453 degrees) characteristic of the radioactive transuranium element neptunium (Np) (from 637 ° C to 4090 ° C). However, if we take into account the true series of liquids - from the melting point to the critical point, then the element helium (He) has the shortest period - only 5.195 degrees (from absolute zero to –268.928 ° С), and the longest - 10200 degrees - for tungsten (from 3420 ° C to 13 620 ° C).
The most poisonous
Among non-radioactive substances, the most stringent restrictions are established for beryllium (Be) - the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of this element in the air is only 2 μg / m 3. Among the radioactive isotopes existing in nature or produced by nuclear facilities, the most stringent restrictions on the content in the air are established for thorium-228 (228 Th), which was first discovered by Otto Hahn (Germany) in 1905 (2.4 · 10 -16 g / m 3), and in terms of content in water - for radium-228 (228 Ra), discovered by O. Gahn in 1907 (1.1 · 10 -13 g / l). Ecologically, they have significant half-lives (i.e. over 6 months).
Guinness Book of Records, 1998
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