What's the hardest thing on earth. The heaviest metals in the world. Places of natural occurrence

It is said that for each type of substance, there is a "most extreme" option. Of course, we've all heard stories of magnets strong enough to hurt children from the inside and acids that will pass through your hands in seconds, but there are even more “extreme” options.

The darkest matter known to man
What happens if you stack the edges of carbon nanotubes on top of each other and alternate layers of them? You end up with a material that absorbs 99.9% of the light that hits it. The microscopic surface of the material is uneven and rough, which refracts light and is a poor reflective surface. Then try using carbon nanotubes as superconductors in a specific order, making them great light absorbers, and you have a real black storm. Scientists are seriously puzzled by the potential uses of this substance, since, in fact, light is not "lost", then the substance could be used to improve optical devices, for example, telescopes, and even be used for solar cells operating with almost 100% efficiency.

The most flammable substance
Lots of things burn at an astonishing rate, like styrofoam, napalm and this is just the beginning. But what if there was a substance that could engulf the earth in fire? On the one hand, this is a provocative question, but it was asked as a starting point. Chlorine trifluoride has dubious fame as a terribly flammable substance, even though the Nazis believed it was too dangerous to work with. When people who are discussing genocide feel that it is their purpose in life not to use something because it is too deadly, this supports careful handling of these substances. They say that one day a ton of substance was spilled and a fire started, and 30.5 cm of concrete and a meter of sand with gravel burned out until everything calmed down. Unfortunately, the Nazis were right.

The most poisonous substance
Tell me, what would you least want that could get on your face? It could well be the deadliest poison, which will rightfully take the 3rd place among the main extreme substances. Such a poison is really different from what burns through concrete, and from the very strong acid in the world (which will soon be invented). While not entirely true, you have all, no doubt, heard from the medical community about Botox, and thanks to it, the most deadly poison is famous. Botox uses a botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is very deadly, and the equivalent of a grain of salt is enough to kill a 200 lb person. In fact, scientists have calculated that it is enough to spray only 4 kg of this substance to kill all people on earth. Probably, an eagle would have acted much more humanely with a rattlesnake than this poison with a man.

The hottest substance
There are very few things in the world known to man as being hotter than the inside of a recently heated Hot Pocket, but this substance seems to break that record too. Created by the collision of gold atoms at near light speed, the substance is called a quark-gluon "soup", and it reaches a crazy 4 trillion degrees Celsius, which is almost 250,000 times hotter than the substance inside the Sun. The amount of energy emitted from the collision would be enough to melt protons and neutrons, which itself has features that you never knew existed. Scientists say this substance could give us an idea of ​​what the birth of our universe was like, so it's worth understanding that tiny supernovae are not created for fun. However, the really good news is that the "soup" took up one trillionth of an inch and lasted for a trillionth of one trillionth of a second.

The most corrosive acid
Acid is a terrible substance, one of the scariest monsters in movies was given acidic blood to make him even more terrible than just a killing machine ("Alien"), so it is ingrained inside us that exposure to acid is very bad. If the "aliens" were filled with fluoride-antimonic acid, they would not only fall deep through the floor, but the vapors emitted from their dead bodies would kill everything around them. This acid is 21019 times stronger than sulphuric acid and may seep through glass. And it can explode if you add water. And during her reaction, poisonous fumes are released that can kill anyone in the room.

The most explosive explosive
In fact, this place is currently divided by two components: HMX and heptanitrocubane. Heptanitrocubane mainly exists in laboratories, and is similar to HMX, but has a denser crystal structure, which carries a greater potential for destruction. Octogen, on the other hand, exists in large enough quantities to threaten physical existence. It is used in solid fuel for rockets, and even for detonators. nuclear weapons... And the last one is the worst, because despite the ease with which it happens in the movies, the start of a fission / thermonuclear reaction that leads to bright glowing nuclear clouds, similar to a mushroom, is not an easy task, but HMX does a great job.

The most radioactive substance
Speaking of radiation, it's worth mentioning that the glowing green "plutonium" rods shown in The Simpsons are just fiction. If something is radioactive, this does not mean that it glows. This is worth mentioning because Polonium-210 is so radioactive that it glows blue. A former Soviet spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was misled by the addition of the substance to his food and died of cancer shortly thereafter. This is not the kind of thing you want to joke with, the glow is caused by the air around the substance, which is affected by radiation, and in fact, objects around it can get hot. When we say "radiation," we think, for example, of a nuclear reactor or an explosion, where a fission reaction actually takes place. This is only the release of ionized particles, not an out-of-control fission of atoms.

The heaviest substance
If you thought diamonds were the heaviest substance on Earth, that was a good but imprecise guess. It is a technically engineered diamond nanorod. It is actually a collection of nano-scale diamonds, with the lowest compression ratio and the heaviest substance. known to man... It doesn't actually exist, but that would be very handy, since it means that someday we could cover our cars with this material and just get rid of it when a collision with a train occurs (an unreal event). This substance was invented in Germany in 2005 and will probably be used to the same extent as industrial diamonds, except that the new substance is more resistant to wear and tear than conventional diamonds.

The most magnetic substance
If the inductor was a small black piece, then it would be the same substance. The substance, developed in 2010 from iron and nitrogen, has magnetic properties 18% more than the previous record holder and is so powerful that it has forced scientists to rethink how magnetism works. The person who discovered this substance distanced himself from his studies so that none of the other scientists could reproduce his work, as it was reported that a similar compound was developed in Japan in the past in 1996, but other physicists could not reproduce it, therefore this substance was not officially accepted. It is unclear whether Japanese physicists should promise to make Sepuku under these circumstances. If this substance can be reproduced, it could mean a new age of efficient electronics and magnetic motors, possibly amplified in power by an order of magnitude.

Strongest superfluidity
Superfluidity is a state of matter (like solid or gaseous) that occurs at extremely low temperatures, has high thermal conductivity (every ounce of this substance must have exactly the same temperature) and no viscosity. Helium-2 is the most typical representative. The helium-2 cup will spontaneously rise and pour out of the container. "Helium-2" will also seep through other solid materials, since the complete absence of frictional force allows it to flow through other invisible holes through which ordinary helium (or water for this case) could not escape. "Helium-2" does not come to desired state at the number 1, as if it has the ability to act on its own, although it is also the most efficient thermal conductor on Earth, several hundred times better than copper. Heat travels so quickly through "helium-2" that it travels in waves, like sound (actually known as "second sound"), rather than dissipates, and simply moves from one molecule to another. By the way, the forces that control the ability of "helium-2" to crawl on the wall are called the "third sound". You are unlikely to have anything more extreme than a substance that required the definition of 2 new types of sound.

Osmium is currently identified as the heaviest substance on the planet. Just one cubic centimeter of this substance weighs 22.6 grams. It was discovered in 1804 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant; when gold was dissolved in After, a sediment remained in the test tube. This was due to the peculiarity of osmium, it is insoluble in alkalis and acids.

The heaviest element on the planet

It is a bluish-white metallic powder. In nature, it occurs in the form of seven isotopes, six of them are stable and one is unstable. The density is slightly superior to iridium, which has a density of 22.4 grams per cubic centimeter. Of the materials found to date, the heaviest substance in the world is osmium.

It belongs to a group such as lanthanum, yttrium, scandium and other lanthanides.

More expensive than gold and diamonds

Very little is produced, about ten thousand kilograms per year. Even the largest source of osmium, the Dzhezkazgan deposit, contains about three ten-millionth shares. The exchange value of a rare metal in the world reaches about 200 thousand dollars per gram. At the same time, the maximum purity of the element during the purification process is about seventy percent.

Although in Russian laboratories it was possible to obtain a purity of 90.4 percent, the amount of metal did not exceed a few milligrams.

Density of Matter Outside of Planet Earth

Osmium is unquestionably the leader of the heaviest elements on our planet. But if we turn our gaze to space, then our attention will open a lot of substances heavier than our "king" of heavy elements.

The fact is that conditions exist in the Universe that are somewhat different than on Earth. The gravity of the row is so great that the substance is incredibly dense.

If we consider the structure of the atom, it will be found that the distances in the interatomic world are somewhat reminiscent of the space we see. Where planets, stars and others are at a fairly large distance. The rest is occupied by emptiness. This is the structure that atoms have, and with strong gravity this distance decreases quite strongly. Up to "pressing" some elementary particles into others.

Neutron stars - superdense objects in space

In a search beyond our Earth, we will be able to detect the heaviest matter in space on neutron stars.

These are quite unique space inhabitants, one of the possible types of stellar evolution. The diameter of such objects ranges from 10 to 200 kilometers, with a mass equal to our Sun or 2-3 times more.

This cosmic body mainly consists of a neutron core, which is composed of fluid neutrons. Although, according to some assumptions of scientists, it should be located in solid state, reliable information does not exist today. However, it is known that exactly neutron stars, reaching their compression redistribution, subsequently turn into with a colossal release of energy, of the order of 10 43 -10 45 joules.

The density of such a star is comparable, for example, to the weight of Mount Everest, placed in a matchbox. These are hundreds of billions of tons in one cubic millimeter. For example, to make it more clear how high the density of matter is, let's take our planet with its mass of 5.9 × 1024 kg and "turn" it into a neutron star.

As a result, in order to equal the density of a neutron star, it must be reduced to the size of an ordinary apple, 7-10 centimeters in diameter. The density of unique stellar objects increases with moving towards the center.

Layers and density of matter

The outer layer of a star is presented in the form of a magnetosphere. Directly below it, the density of matter already reaches the order of one ton per cubic centimeter. Given our knowledge of Earth, it is currently the heaviest element found. But don't jump to conclusions.

Let's continue our exploration of unique stars. They are also called pulsars, due to the high speed of rotation around their axis. This indicator for various objects ranges from several tens to hundreds of revolutions per second.

Let us proceed further in the study of superdense cosmic bodies. This is followed by a layer that has the characteristics of a metal, but is most likely similar in behavior and structure. Crystals are much smaller than we see in the crystal lattice of terrestrial substances. To line up a line of crystals of 1 centimeter, you will need to lay out more than 10 billion elements. The density in this layer is one million times higher than in the outer layer. This is not the heaviest material in a star. This is followed by a layer rich in neutrons, the density of which is a thousand times higher than the previous one.

The core of a neutron star and its density

Below is the core, it is here that the density reaches its maximum - twice as high as the overlying layer. The substance of the core of a celestial body consists of all elementary particles known to physics. With this we have reached the end of the journey to the core of the star in search of the heaviest substance in space.

The mission in search of substances with unique density in the Universe seems to have been completed. But space is full of mysteries and undiscovered phenomena, stars, facts and patterns.

Black holes in the universe

You should pay attention to what is already open today. These are black holes. Perhaps it is these mysterious objects that can be contenders for the fact that the heaviest substance in the Universe is their component. Note that the gravity of black holes is so great that light cannot leave it.

According to the scientists' assumptions, the substance drawn into the region of space-time becomes so dense that there is no space between elementary particles.

Unfortunately, beyond the event horizon (this is the name of the border where light and any object, under the influence of gravitational forces, cannot leave the black hole) follow our guesses and indirect assumptions based on emissions of particle fluxes.

A number of scientists suggest that space and time are mixing beyond the event horizon. There is an opinion that they can be a "passage" to another Universe. Perhaps this corresponds to the truth, although it is quite possible that beyond these limits another space opens up with completely new laws. An area where time will change "place" with space. The location of the future and the past is determined only by the choice to follow. Like our choice to go right or left.

It is potentially admissible that there are civilizations in the Universe that have mastered time travel through black holes. Perhaps in the future, people from planet Earth will discover the secret of time travel.

This basic list of ten elements is the "heaviest" one in terms of density per cubic centimeter. Note, however, that density is not mass, it simply indicates how tightly packed the mass of a body is.

Now that we understand this, let's take a look at the most difficult in the entire universe known to mankind.

10. Tantalum (Tantalum)

Density per 1 cm³ - 16.67 g

The atomic number of tantalum is 73. This blue-gray metal is very hard and also has a super high melting point.

9. Uranium


Density per 1 cm³ - 19.05 g

Discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin H. Klaprot, the metal became real uranium only almost a hundred years later, in 1841, thanks to the French chemist Eugene Melchior Peligot.

8. Wolframium


Density per 1 cm³ - 19.26 g

Tungsten exists in four different minerals and is also the heaviest of all elements that play an important biological role.

7. Gold (Aurum)


Density per 1 cm³ - 19.29 g

They say money does not grow on trees, which cannot be said about gold! Small traces of gold have been found on the leaves of eucalyptus trees.

6. Plutonium


Density per 1 cm³ - 20.26 g

Plutonium exhibits a colorful oxidation state in aqueous solution and can also spontaneously change oxidation state and colors! This is a real chameleon among the elements.

5. Neptunium

Density per 1 cm³ - 20.47 g

Named after the planet Neptune, it was discovered by Professor Edwin McMillan in 1940. It also became the first discovered synthetic transuranic element from the actinide family.

4. Rhenium

Density per 1 cm³ - 21.01 g

The name of this chemical element derived from latin word"Rhenus" which means "Rhine". It was discovered by Walter Noddack in Germany in 1925.

3. Platinum

Density per cm³ - 21.45 g

One of the most precious metals on this list (along with gold), and is used to make almost everything. As a strange fact: all the platinum mined (down to the last particle) could fit in a medium-sized living room! Not much, really. (Try putting all the gold in it.)

2. Iridium


Density per cm³ - 22.56 g

Iridium was discovered in London in 1803 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant along with osmium: the elements were present in natural platinum as impurities. Yes, iridium was discovered purely by accident.

1. Osmium


Density per cm³ - 22.59 g

There is nothing heavier (one cubic centimeter) than osmium. The name of this element comes from the ancient Greek word "osme", which means "smell" because chemical reactions its dissolution in acid or water is accompanied by an unpleasant, persistent odor.

Density, or more precisely, the bulk density of a substance is its mass per unit volume (denoted in kg / m3 ). In space the most dense object observed so far is a neutron star - the collapsing core of a massive star, whose mass is twice more mass The sun.But what about Earth?What is the densest material on Earth?

1. Osmium, Density: 22.59 g / cm3

Osmium is perhaps the densest naturally occurring element on Earth and belongs to the precious platinum group of metals.This shiny substance has twice the density of lead and slightly more than iridium. It was first discovered by Smithson Tennant and William Hyde Wollaston back in 1803 when they first isolated this stable element from platinum.It is mainly used in materials where high strength is extremely important.

2. Iridium, Density: 22.56 g / cm3

Iridium is hard, lustrous and one of the densest transition metals in the platinum group.It is also the most corrosion resistant metal known to date, even at extreme temperatures of 2000 ° C.It was discovered in 1803 by Smithson Tennant among the insoluble impurities in natural platinum.

3. Platinum, Density: 21.45 g / cm3

Platinum is an extremely rare metal on Earth with an average content of 5 micrograms per kilogram.South Africa is the largest producer of platinum, with 80% of global production, with small contributions from the United States and Russia.It is a dense, ductile and non-reactive metal.

In addition to a symbol of prestige (jewelry or any similar accessory), platinum is used in various fields, such as the automotive industry, where it is used for the production of automobile emission control devices and for petroleum refining.Other minor applications include, for example, medicine and biomedicine, glass making equipment, electrodes, anticancer drugs, oxygen sensors, spark plugs.

4. Rhenium, Density: 21.2 g / cm 3

The element Rhenium is named after the river Rhine in Germany after it was discovered by three German scientists in the early 1900s.Like other platinum group metals, rhenium is also a precious element on Earth and has the second highest boiling point, the third highest melting point of any known element on Earth.

Because of these extreme properties, rhenium (as superalloys) is widely used in turbine blades and moving nozzles in virtually all jet engines around the world.It is also one of the best catalysts for naphtha (liquid hydrocarbon mixture) reforming, isomerization and hydrogenation.

5. Plutonium, Density: 19.82 g / cm3

Plutonium is currently the most dense radioactive element in the world.It was first allocated inUniversity of California Laboratories in 1940when researchers detonated uranium-238 in a huge cyclotron.This was followed by the first major use of this deadly element in the Manhattan Project, where a significant amount of plutonium was used to detonate the Fat Man, a nuclear weapon used in the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

6. Gold, Density: 19.30 g / cm3

Gold is one of the most valuable, popular and demanded metals on Earth.Not only that, according to the current understanding, gold actually comes from supernova explosions in deep space.According to periodic table, gold belongs to a group of 11 elements known as transition metals.

7. Tungsten, Density: 19.25 g / cm3

The most common use of tungsten is in incandescent lamps and X-ray tubes, where it is heat melting is essential for efficient operation in extreme heat conditions.In its pure form, its melting point is perhaps the highest of all metals found on Earth.China is the largest producer of tungsten in the world, followed by Russia and Canada.

Its extremely high tensile strength and relatively low weight also make it a suitable material for the production of grenades and projectiles, where it is alloyed with other heavy metals such as iron and nickel.

8. Uranium, Density: 19.1 g / cm3

Like thorium, uranium is also weakly radioactive.Naturally, uranium is contained in three different isotopes: uranium-238, uranium-235, and less commonly uranium-234.The existence of such an element was first discovered back in 1789, but its radioactive properties were discovered only in 1896 by Eugene-Melchior Peligot, and its practical use was first applied in 1934.

9. Tantalum, Density: 16.69 g / cm3

Tantalum belongs to the refractory group of metals, which makes up an insignificant proportion in various types of alloys.It is hard, rare, and highly resistant to corrosion, making it an ideal material for high-performance capacitors that are ideal for home computers and electronics.

Another important application of tantalum is in surgical instruments and inbody implantsdue to its ability to directly bind to hard tissues inside our body.

10. Mercury, Density: 13.53 g / cm 3

In my opinion, mercury is one of the most interesting elements on the periodic table.It is one of two solid elements that becomes liquid at normal room temperature and pressure, and the other is bromine.The freezing point is -38.8 ° C and the boiling point is about 356.7 ° C.

1. The darkest matter known to man
What happens if you stack the edges of carbon nanotubes on top of each other and alternate layers of them? You end up with a material that absorbs 99.9% of the light that hits it. The microscopic surface of the material is uneven and rough, which refracts light and is a poor reflective surface. Then try using carbon nanotubes as superconductors in a specific order, making them great light absorbers, and you have a real black storm. Scientists are seriously puzzled by the potential uses of this substance, since, in fact, light is not "lost", then the substance could be used to improve optical devices, for example, telescopes, and even be used for solar cells operating with almost 100% efficiency.
2. The most flammable substance
Lots of things burn at an astonishing rate, like styrofoam, napalm and this is just the beginning. But what if there was a substance that could engulf the earth in fire? On the one hand, this is a provocative question, but it was asked as a starting point. Chlorine trifluoride has dubious fame as a terribly flammable substance, even though the Nazis believed it was too dangerous to work with. When people who are discussing genocide feel that it is their purpose in life not to use something because it is too deadly, this supports careful handling of these substances. They say that one day a ton of substance was spilled and a fire started, and 30.5 cm of concrete and a meter of sand with gravel burned out until everything calmed down. Unfortunately, the Nazis were right.
3. The most poisonous substance
Tell me, what would you least want that could get on your face? It could well be the deadliest poison, which will rightfully take the 3rd place among the main extreme substances. Such a poison is really different from what burns through concrete, and from the strongest acid in the world (which will soon be invented). While not entirely true, you have all, no doubt, heard from the medical community about Botox, and thanks to it, the most deadly poison is famous. Botox uses a botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is very deadly, and the equivalent of a grain of salt is enough to kill a 200 lb person. In fact, scientists have calculated that it is enough to spray only 4 kg of this substance to kill all people on earth. Probably, an eagle would have acted much more humanely with a rattlesnake than this poison with a man.
4. The hottest substance
There are very few things in the world known to man as being hotter than the inside of a recently heated Hot Pocket, but this substance seems to break that record too. Created by the collision of gold atoms at near light speed, the substance is called a quark-gluon "soup", and it reaches a crazy 4 trillion degrees Celsius, which is almost 250,000 times hotter than the substance inside the Sun. The amount of energy emitted from the collision would be enough to melt protons and neutrons, which itself has features that you never knew existed. Scientists say this substance could give us an idea of ​​what the birth of our universe was like, so it's worth understanding that tiny supernovae are not created for fun. However, the really good news is that the "soup" took up one trillionth of an inch and lasted for a trillionth of one trillionth of a second.
5. The most corrosive acid
Acid is a terrible substance, one of the scariest monsters in movies was given acidic blood to make him even more terrible than just a killing machine ("Alien"), so it is ingrained inside us that exposure to acid is very bad. If the "aliens" were filled with fluoride-antimonic acid, they would not only fall deep through the floor, but the vapors emitted from their dead bodies would kill everything around them. This acid is 21019 times stronger than sulfuric acid and can seep through glass. And it can explode if you add water. And during her reaction, poisonous fumes are released that can kill anyone in the room.
6. The most explosive explosive
In fact, this place is currently divided by two components: HMX and heptanitrocubane. Heptanitrocubane mainly exists in laboratories, and is similar to HMX, but has a denser crystal structure, which carries a greater potential for destruction. Octogen, on the other hand, exists in large enough quantities to threaten physical existence. It is used in solid fuel for rockets, and even for detonators for nuclear weapons. And the last one is the worst, because despite the ease with which it happens in the movies, the start of a fission / thermonuclear reaction that leads to bright glowing nuclear clouds, similar to a mushroom, is not an easy task, but HMX does a great job.
7. The most radioactive substance
Speaking of radiation, it's worth mentioning that the glowing green "plutonium" rods shown in The Simpsons are just fiction. If something is radioactive, this does not mean that it glows. This is worth mentioning because Polonium-210 is so radioactive that it glows blue. A former Soviet spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was misled by the addition of the substance to his food and died of cancer shortly thereafter. This is not the kind of thing you want to joke with, the glow is caused by the air around the substance, which is affected by radiation, and in fact, objects around it can get hot. When we say "radiation," we think, for example, of a nuclear reactor or an explosion, where a fission reaction actually takes place. This is only the release of ionized particles, not an out-of-control fission of atoms.
8. The heaviest substance
If you thought diamonds were the heaviest substance on Earth, that was a good but imprecise guess. It is a technically engineered diamond nanorod. It is actually a collection of nano-scale diamonds with the lowest compression ratio and the heaviest substance known to man. It doesn't actually exist, but that would be very handy, since it means that someday we could cover our cars with this material and just get rid of it when a collision with a train occurs (an unreal event). This substance was invented in Germany in 2005 and will probably be used to the same extent as industrial diamonds, except that the new substance is more resistant to wear and tear than conventional diamonds.
9. The most magnetic substance
If the inductor was a small black piece, then it would be the same substance. The substance, developed in 2010 from iron and nitrogen, has magnetic properties 18% more than the previous record holder and is so powerful that it has forced scientists to rethink how magnetism works. The person who discovered this substance distanced himself from his studies so that none of the other scientists could reproduce his work, as it was reported that a similar compound was developed in Japan in the past in 1996, but other physicists could not reproduce it, therefore this substance was not officially accepted. It is unclear whether Japanese physicists should promise to make Sepuku under these circumstances. If this substance can be reproduced, it could mean a new age of efficient electronics and magnetic motors, possibly amplified in power by an order of magnitude.
10. Strongest superfluidity
Superfluidity is a state of matter (like solid or gaseous) that occurs at extremely low temperatures, has high thermal conductivity (every ounce of this substance must have exactly the same temperature) and no viscosity. Helium-2 is the most typical representative. The helium-2 cup will spontaneously rise and pour out of the container. "Helium-2" will also seep through other solid materials, since the complete absence of frictional force allows it to flow through other invisible holes through which ordinary helium (or water for this case) could not escape. "Helium-2" does not come to the desired state at the number 1, as if it has the ability to act on its own, although it is also the most efficient thermal conductor on Earth, several hundred times better than copper. Heat travels so quickly through "helium-2" that it travels in waves, like sound (actually known as "second sound"), rather than dissipates, and simply moves from one molecule to another. By the way, the forces that control the ability of "helium-2" to crawl on the wall are called the "third sound". You are unlikely to have anything more extreme than a substance that required the definition of 2 new types of sound.