The amazing world of metals is much more interesting than it might seem at first glance. They are of much greater importance in human life than many are accustomed to believing, and the influence that they exert does not depend at all on whether the most expensive metal has been chosen, or on the option that is quite common and accessible to the masses. Accompanying a person in all areas of everyday life, they have become so familiar that they are taken for granted, and often do not cause any interest in themselves.
What determines the cost of metal
Some metals have long been familiar to mankind, but we know very little about others. Each metal has its own price. Its cost depends on many factors. First of all, of course, from the prevalence, the difficulty of mining, the demand for industry, popularity and other things.
The most expensive metal in the world is a loose concept. After all, a miniature piece, estimated at millions of dollars in one part of the globe, may not even be considered anything worthwhile in another. If more recently, many, without doubting, would have said that the most expensive metal in the world is gold, then after a very short period of time platinum took the lead. Everything is changing. To date, the title "most expensive metal on Earth" has California-252. Its creation and production takes place in laboratories under the strict control of leading scientists; it has no risk with mining from the bowels of the earth. But the cost, as we noted earlier, depends on a combination of many factors.
The creation of human hands or nature?
So, to understand the huge variety of metals existing on Earth, to understand how their value is determined, they should be divided into natural and those obtained by chemical reactions. Among the first can safely be attributed ruthenium, osmium, gold, platinum, rhodium and others. And only two elements belong to the second group - California-252 and osmium-187.
Rhodium - the rarest and, accordingly, the most expensive metal in its time, was discovered in 1803. It has a silver color, unique hardness and strong reflective properties, which made it indispensable in the automotive, chemical industry. Demand for this most expensive metal, if we consider its importance and relevance in modern industry, is constantly growing, but, given that its deposits in nature are insignificant, scientists are forced to work to find equivalent substitutes.
Did you know?
It is unlikely that any of the inhabitants of Ancient Greece, Egypt or Ethiopia would have thought that the platinum used by them to save silver and gold in the manufacture of coins, after a short amount of time, would be incredibly popular and referred to as the most expensive metal. Nature gave people platinum only in the form of alloys with various metals. Thanks to innovative technologies, difficulties in processing this metal disappeared, and platinum rightfully took pride of place as the most expensive precious metal. Now it is widely used in the medical and electronic industries, in the production of weapons and jewelry.
Gold is familiar to everyone and one of the main precious metals. In nature, it exists only in its pure form. He is not afraid of corrosion. Plasticity and uniformity provide a wide range of uses of this metal both in jewelry, electronic industry and medicine, and for the manufacture of bank coins. You can buy gold in jewelry stores and in banking institutions.According to statistics, it is he who is most often called, answering the question of what is the most expensive metal.
It is interesting
Osmium was discovered due to its specific odor, which is similar to the smell of garlic and bleach. This metal has a high density. Color - silver-white with a bluish tint. Unfortunately, there is no pure osmium in nature. Its mining is conducted only with another platinum group metal - iridium. Osmium deposits are in the Urals, in Siberia, as well as in Colombia, Canada, the USA, South Africa. He is very distracted, therefore, has a high cost. Used in pharmacology, chemical industry (in the form of a catalyst).
Iridium is the most “extreme” member of the platinum group. Its color is white, the melting temperature is unusually high, like density, it does not lend itself to corrosion, it is a unique density element and one of the most resistant to metal corrosion. Neither acid, nor air, nor water affects iridium in any way.
It is very difficult to mine, and even more difficult to process. Iridium is used in medicine, electronic, automotive, chemical industry. It is worth noting that even jewelers decorate their work with iridium. South Africa is its main supplier.
Ruthenium was discovered and received its name thanks to the Russian scientist Karl Klaus. It belongs to the platinum group, it can be infrequently seen in the bowels of the earth. This metal has a bright gray color. Its features include hardness, brittleness, at the same time refractoriness. The main supplier is South Africa. Ruthenium is used in the electronic industry and radio engineering, especially in Japan and Western Europe. It is also used in the production of alkalis and chlorine.
Palladium is highly praised for its high temperature resistance. It has a grayish-white color. Palladium is widely used for anticorrosion coatings by car manufacturers, as well as jewelers for their work with metal alloys.
Silver is one of the most valuable metals on earth. The metal boasts a white shiny color. At the same time, the best electrical and thermal conductor has a low resistance. Silver is used to prevent the spread of bacteria during jewelry, in medicine and other industries.
Let's pay attention to isotopes. They are extracted more difficult and for a longer period, their number in the world is measured in grams, and the price is in thousands, or even millions of dollars.
World invention
You can find out what is the most expensive metal in the world from the Guinness Book of Records. Judging by the information presented there, it is California (Cf). It got its name thanks to the invention in 1950 by scientists from the University of California. California is obtained from the products of continuous plutonium neutron irradiation in a nuclear reactor. The total number in the world is about 5 grams. Only two reactors can produce it; they are located in the USA and Russia. California-252 has a very long and laborious manufacturing process.
It is used in medicine as the main point source of neutrons for irradiation of malignant tumors. California-252 may be an alternative to a nuclear reactor.
Laborious and responsible work
Osmium-187 is the densest chemical compound on the planet. Outwardly, these are small black crystals with a violet shimmer, which are particularly fragile. There are very few in the world. Obtaining this isotope is a complex and long-term process (at least 9 months), because it is associated with the separation of isotopes of radioactive elements. For this, the method of mass separation with round-the-clock operation of centrifuges was used. Kazakhstan made great progress in the production of osmium-187, which gave it the opportunity to become a monopolist in supplying the world market. And they use this isotope in instrumentation and pharmacology.
Rare earth metals
The name of this group of metals speaks for itself, however it is they that are most often present next to a person, although he himself almost never knows about it. In almost every smartphone, computer, and in most household appliances that we use daily, there is at least a grain of such metals. They are used to create magnets, and are popular because, by improving the quality of the finished product, they significantly reduce its weight.
The most expensive rare earth metal
The cost of each of the representatives of this group is quite high, but terbium, neodymium, europium and lutetium are considered the most rare and valuable. They are most in demand in various areas of industrial production, and the cost of the finished device itself depends on their availability.
The value of metals in human life
The value of metal for a person is determined not only by its value. They have a lot of beliefs associated with them, they are endowed with magical properties, they believe that amulets and pendants can protect against evil spirits, bracelets from diseases, pins and brooches from the evil eye, etc. To believe in it or not is a private matter for everyone, but it has long been scientifically proven that metals, depending on their type, are more or less capable of conducting energy, storing information, and storing it for a long period of time.
Most likely, over the years we will learn a lot more information about the features and properties of various groups of natural and non-natural metals, which we do not even know about today.
