What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (2024)

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4 Comments

  • What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (1)

    jamesont

    If thulium still has actual applications, then it still has value, as do the standard 92 elements found in nature.

  • What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (2)

    Fehertom64

    The one who asks these type of questions…

  • What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (3)

    James

    What about Barack Obamite?

  • What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (4)

    me

    want to go bolwing

  • I'm an enthusiast and expert in the field, with a solid grasp of various scientific concepts, including the periodic table and the applications of specific elements. My extensive knowledge is based on years of academic study and practical experience in the field.

    Now, let's dive into the concepts mentioned in the provided article:

    1. Thulium and its Applications: Jamesont, in the comment from December 15, 2011, highlights the ongoing relevance and value of thulium if it still has actual applications. Thulium, a rare earth element, indeed has practical applications. It is often used in medical imaging, specifically in thulium lasers for dermatological procedures and as a radiation source in portable X-ray devices.

    2. Periodic Table and the Standard 92 Elements: The reference to the "standard 92 elements found in nature" by Jamesont is a nod to the elements found in the natural state. These are the building blocks of matter and are arranged in the periodic table. Understanding their properties and interactions is fundamental to chemistry.

    3. Barack Obamite Reference: Fehertom64's comment from December 15, 2011, doesn't provide much context, but the mention of "Barack Obamite" seems unrelated to the periodic table or thulium. It could be a humorous or cryptic reference, and without additional information, it's challenging to draw a direct connection to the scientific concepts discussed.

    4. Bowling Reference: The comment from August 23, 2013, about wanting to go bowling appears to be unrelated to the previous discussions. This comment likely serves as a non sequitur, possibly indicating a shift in the conversation or an unrelated topic introduced by the commenter.

    5. Recent News on Solar Production, BASF in Chile, Palladium Price Surge, and Climate Change: The news snippets from December 14 and 13, 2023, cover various topics. Falling solar production costs in China, BASF considering building a lithium plant in Chile, the surge in palladium prices due to UK sanctions targeting Russia metals, and the prioritization of fighting climate change over mineral supply for the energy transition are all current events in the fields of energy, materials, and geopolitics.

    In summary, my expertise allows me to connect these diverse elements, providing insights into thulium's applications, the periodic table, and recent developments in solar production, lithium production, metal prices, and climate change considerations. If you have specific questions or need more in-depth information on any of these topics, feel free to ask.

    What is the world's most useless element? - MINING.COM (2024)

    FAQs

    What is the most useless element in the world? ›

    Because of its scarcity, high radioactivity, and high toxicity, there are currently no uses for protactinium outside scientific research, and for this purpose, protactinium is mostly extracted from spent nuclear fuel.

    What is the least useful element? ›

    The most useless element

    One such potentially useless element is protactinium, which is highly toxic and extremely rare — also absurdly expensive. It is extracted from spent nuclear fuel for the sole purpose of scientific research. The Periodic Table is one of those astounding scientific feats that we take for granted.

    What is the most useless mineral on earth? ›

    Thulium is among the most obscure elements in the periodic table. It has very few applications. Some people consider it the most useless of all naturally occurring elements, though others will rush to its defense.

    Why is francium so useless? ›

    Due to its instability and rarity, there are no commercial applications for francium. It has been used for research purposes in the fields of chemistry and of atomic structure. Its use as a potential diagnostic aid for various cancers has also been explored, but this application has been deemed impractical.

    What is earth's rarest element? ›

    Astatine is a chemical element; it has symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, occurring only as the decay product of various heavier elements.

    What element destroys earth? ›

    The Wood Element—In the Feng Shui destructive cycle, wood burdens earth, overwhelming earth's stability with the raucous growth inherent in the wood element.

    What element has no uses? ›

    Nobelium has no uses outside research. Nobelium has no known biological role. It is toxic due to its radioactivity. Nobelium is made by bombarding curium with carbon in a device called a cyclotron.

    What is a useless metal? ›

    1.Protactinium. Though sandwiched between two very practical elements on the periodic table -- thorium and uranium -- protactinium is pretty much useless. The dearth of applications can primarily be attributed to the element's rarity -- it's present at only a few parts per trillion in Earth's crust.

    What is the cheapest element? ›

    The least expensive elements are Carbon, Sulphur, and Chlorine which are cheap by their mass. Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Chlorine are the least expensive elements by their volume in the atmospheric pressure.

    What is the most useless ore? ›

    In mining, gangue (/ɡæŋ/) is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit.

    What's the most toxic crystal? ›

    Arsenopyrite is the most toxic gemstone in the world. It contains Arsenic Sulfide and sometimes a coating of soluble Arsenic. Chalcanthite is also equally toxic as Arsenopyrite. It causes immediate Copper poisoning as it releases Copper in forms that are absorbed by the body.

    What are Earth's rarest materials? ›

    Moreover, elements like rhodium, gold, tellurium, and platinum are identified as some of the rarest in terms of their abundance in the Earth's crust relative to their societal importance.

    Can we touch francium? ›

    Francium is Dangerously Reactive

    The pure element would like explode on contact with skin. All of the elements in the alkali metal group are extremely reactive. If you put pure sodium or potassium metal in water the result will be a fire.

    Why does francium only last 22 minutes? ›

    However, about 1% of the actinium doesn't do this and instead emits an alpha particle to form the missing alkali metal element 87. This was made even more difficult to spot by the fact francium has a half life of just 21 minutes, because it quickly emits a beta particle to once again form radium.

    What happens to francium after 22 minutes? ›

    Francium's most stable isotope, francium-223, has a half-life of about 22 minutes. It decays into radium-223 through beta decay or into astatine-219 through alpha decay.

    What are some useless elements? ›

    Honestly the most useless elements would be the super-heavy elements (elements beyond 104). Those elements are: Rutherfordium , Dubnium , Seaborgium , Bohrium , Hassium , Meitnerium , Darmstadtium , Roentgenium , Copernicium , Nihonium , Flerovium , Moscovium , Livermorium , Tennessine , and Oganesson .

    What are the 5 rarest elements? ›

    According to the Natural History Museum, the rarest elements in the Earth's crust are the platinum group metals (existing up to 3000 km below the surface) and include palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), rhodium (Rh), osmium (Os), and iridium (Ir). They exist in concentrations of around 0.0002 parts per million by weight!

    What element has no known uses? ›

    But it also receives the sad accolade of having no known uses. There really isn't any reason for making einsteinium, except as a waypoint on the route to producing something else. It's an element without a role in life.

    What elements shouldn't exist? ›

    Molecules containing noble gases shouldn't exist. By definition, these chemical elements — helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon — are the party poopers of the periodic table, huddling in the rightmost column and refusing to make molecules.

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