The world around us is fraught with many more mysteries, but even phenomena and substances known to scientists for a long time do not cease to amaze and delight. We admire the bright colors, enjoy the tastes and use the properties of all kinds of substances that make our life more comfortable, safer and more enjoyable. In search of the most reliable and strong materials, man has made many exciting discoveries, and here is a selection of just 25 such unique compounds!

25. Diamonds

If not everyone, then almost everyone knows for sure. Diamonds are not only some of the most revered gemstones, but also one of the hardest minerals on Earth. On the Mohs scale (a scale of hardness in which a rating is given by the reaction of a mineral to scratching), diamond is listed on the 10th line. There are 10 positions in total on the scale, and the 10th is the last and hardest degree. Diamonds are so hard that only other diamonds can scratch them.

24. Catching webs of a spider of the species Caerostris darwini


Photo: pixabay

Believe it or not, the Caerostris darwini (or Darwin's spider) web is stronger than steel and harder than Kevlar. This web was recognized as the hardest biological material in the world, although now it already has a potential competitor, but the data has not yet been confirmed. The spider fiber was tested for such characteristics as breaking deformation, impact strength, tensile strength and Young's modulus (the property of a material to resist stretching, compression under elastic deformation), and in all these indicators, the spider web showed itself in an amazing way. In addition, Darwin's spider trap is incredibly lightweight. For example, if we wrap our planet with Caerostris darwini fiber, the weight of such a long thread will be only 500 grams. There are no such long networks, but the theoretical calculations are simply amazing!

23. Airbrush


Photo: BrokenSphere

This synthetic foam is one of the lightest fibrous materials in the world and is a network of carbon tubes only a few microns in diameter. Airbrush is 75 times lighter than polystyrene, but at the same time much stronger and more flexible. It can be compressed to a size 30 times smaller than its original appearance, without any harm to its extremely elastic structure. Thanks to this property, airbrushed foam can withstand a load of 40,000 times its own weight.

22. Palladium metallic glass


Photo: pixabay

A team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Berkeley Lab) developed the new kind metal glass, which combines an almost perfect combination of strength and ductility. The reason for the uniqueness of the new material lies in the fact that its chemical structure successfully conceals the fragility of existing glassy materials and at the same time maintains a high endurance threshold, which ultimately significantly increases the fatigue strength of this synthetic structure.

21. Tungsten carbide


Photo: pixabay

Tungsten carbide is an incredibly hard material with high wear resistance. V certain conditions this compound is considered to be very brittle, but under heavy load it exhibits unique plastic properties, manifested in the form of slip bands. Thanks to all these qualities, tungsten carbide is used in the manufacture of armor-piercing tips and various equipment, including all kinds of cutters, abrasive discs, drills, cutters, drill bits and other cutting tools.

20. Silicon carbide


Photo: Tiia Monto

Silicon carbide is one of the main materials used in the production of battle tanks. This compound is known for its low cost, outstanding infusibility and high hardness, and therefore it is often used in the manufacture of equipment or equipment that must repel bullets, cut or grind other durable materials. Silicon carbide makes excellent abrasives, semiconductors and even inserts in jewelry that imitate diamonds.

19. Cubic boron nitride


Photo: wikimedia commons

Cubic boron nitride is a superhard material similar in hardness to diamond, but it also has a number of distinctive advantages - high temperature stability and chemical resistance. Cubic boron nitride does not dissolve in iron and nickel even under the influence of high temperatures, while diamond enters into chemical reactions fast enough. In fact, it is beneficial for its use in industrial grinding tools.

18. Ultra-high-molecular-weight high-density polyethylene (UHMWPE), fiber brand "Dyneema"


Photo: Justsail

Polyethylene with a high modulus of elasticity has an extremely high wear resistance, a low coefficient of friction and a high fracture toughness (low temperature reliability). Today it is considered the most durable fiber in the world. The most amazing thing about this polyethylene is that it is lighter than water and can stop bullets at the same time! Ropes and ropes made of Dyneem fibers do not sink in water, do not need lubrication and do not change their properties when wet, which is very important for shipbuilding.

17. Titanium alloys


Photo: Alchemist-hp (pse-mendelejew.de)

Titanium alloys are incredibly ductile and exhibit amazing tensile strength. In addition, they have high heat and corrosion resistance, which makes them extremely useful in areas such as aircraft, rocket, shipbuilding, chemical, food and transport engineering.

16. Liquidmetal alloy


Photo: pixabay

Developed in 2003 by the California Institute of Technology, this material is renowned for its strength and durability. The name of the compound is associated with something fragile and liquid, but at room temperature it is actually unusually hard, wear-resistant, not afraid of corrosion and transforms when heated, like thermoplastics. The main applications so far are watches, golf clubs and mobile phone covers (Vertu, iPhone).

15. Nanocellulose


Photo: pixabay

Nanocellulose is isolated from wood fiber and is a new kind of wood material that is even stronger than steel! In addition, nanocellulose is also cheaper. The innovation has great potential and in the future may be a serious competitor to glass and carbon fiber. The developers believe that this material will soon be in high demand in the production of military armor, super-flexible screens, filters, flexible batteries, absorbent aerogels and biofuels.

14. Teeth of "sea saucer" snails


Photo: pixabay

Earlier, we have already told you about Darwin's spider's trapping web, which was once recognized as the most durable biological material on the planet. However, recent research has shown that the sea saucer is the most durable of known to science biological substances. Yes, these teeth are stronger than Caerostris darwini's web. And this is not surprising, because tiny sea creatures feed on algae growing on the surface of rugged rocks, and these animals have to work hard to separate food from rock. Scientists believe that in the future we will be able to use the example of the fiber structure of the teeth of sea saucers in the engineering industry and start building cars, boats and even rugged aircraft, inspired by the example of simple snails.

13. Maraging steel


Photo: pixabay

Maraging steel is a high strength and high alloy alloy with superior ductility and toughness. The material is widespread in rocketry and is used to make all kinds of tools.

12. Osmium


Photo: Periodictableru / www.periodictable.ru

Osmium is an incredibly dense element and, due to its hardness and high melting point, is difficult to machine. This is why osmium is used where durability and strength are most valued. Osmium alloys are found in electrical contacts, rocketry, military projectiles, surgical implants, and many more.

11. Kevlar


Photo: wikimedia commons

Kevlar is a high-strength fiber found in car tires, brake pads, cables, prosthetic and orthopedic products, body armor, protective clothing fabrics, shipbuilding and drone parts. aircraft... The material has become almost synonymous with strength and is a type of plastic with incredibly high strength and elasticity. The tensile strength of Kevlar is 8 times higher than that of steel wire, and it begins to melt at a temperature of 450 ℃.

10. Ultra-high-molecular-weight high-density polyethylene, fiber brand Spectra


Photo: Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons

UHMWPE is essentially a very durable plastic. Spectra, UHMWPE grade, is, in turn, a lightweight fiber of the highest wear resistance, 10 times superior in this indicator to steel. Like Kevlar, spectrum is used in the manufacture of body armor and protective helmets. Along with UHMWPE, the dynimo spectrum brand is popular in the shipbuilding and transport industries.

9. Graphene


Photo: pixabay

Graphene is allotropic modification carbon, and its crystal lattice is only one atom thick, so strong that it is 200 times harder than steel. Graphene looks like cling film, but tearing it is almost impossible task. To punch through a graphene sheet, you have to stick a pencil into it, on which you will have to balance a load with the weight of an entire school bus. Good luck!

8. Carbon nanotube paper


Photo: pixabay

Thanks to nanotechnology, scientists have managed to make paper that is 50 thousand times thinner than a human hair. Sheets made of carbon nanotubes are 10 times lighter than steel, but most surprising of all, they are as much as 500 times stronger in strength! Macroscopic nanotube plates are the most promising for the manufacture of supercapacitor electrodes.

7. Metallic micro-lattice


Photo: pixabay

Here is the lightest metal in the world! The metal micro-lattice is a synthetic porous material that is 100 times lighter than foam. But let him appearance don't mislead you, these micro-gratings are incredibly strong at the same time, so they have great potential for use in all kinds of engineering fields. They can be used to make excellent shock absorbers and thermal insulators, and the metal's amazing ability to contract and return to its original state allows it to be used for energy storage. Metal microgrids are also actively used in the production of various parts for aircraft of the American company Boeing.

6. Carbon nanotubes


Photo: User Mstroeck / en.wikipedia

Above, we have already talked about ultra-strong macroscopic plates made of carbon nanotubes. But what kind of material is this? In fact, these are graphene planes rolled into a tube (9th point). The result is an incredibly lightweight, resilient and durable material for a wide range of applications.

5. Airbrush


Photo: wikimedia commons

Also known as graphene airgel, this material is extremely lightweight and durable at the same time. In the new type of gel, the liquid phase is completely replaced by the gaseous one, and it is distinguished by sensational hardness, heat resistance, low density and low thermal conductivity. Incredibly, graphene airgel is 7 times lighter than air! The unique compound is able to regain its original shape even after 90% compression and can absorb an amount of oil that is 900 times the weight of the airbrush used for absorption. Perhaps, in the future, this class of materials will help in the fight against environmental disasters such as oil spills.

4. Untitled material, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)


Photo: pixabay

As you read these lines, a team of scientists at MIT is working to improve the properties of graphene. The researchers said they have already succeeded in transforming the two-dimensional structure of this material into three-dimensional. The new graphene substance has not yet received its name, but it is already known that its density is 20 times less than that of steel, and its strength is 10 times higher than that of steel.

3. Carbin


Photo: Smokefoot

Even though these are just linear chains of carbon atoms, carbyne has 2 times higher tensile strength than graphene, and it is 3 times harder than diamond!

2. Boron nitride wurtzite modification


Photo: pixabay

This newly discovered natural substance is formed during volcanic eruptions and is 18% harder than diamonds. However, it surpasses diamonds in a number of other parameters. Wurtzite boron nitride is one of only 2 natural substances found on Earth that is harder than diamond. The problem is that there are very few such nitrides in nature, and therefore it is not easy to study or apply them in practice.

1. Lonsdaleite


Photo: pixabay

Also known as hexagonal diamond, lonsdaleite is made up of carbon atoms, but in this modification, the atoms are arranged slightly differently. Like wurtzite boron nitride, lonsdaleite is a natural substance that is superior in hardness to diamond. Moreover, this amazing mineral is harder than diamond by as much as 58%! Like boron nitride of the wurtzite modification, this compound is extremely rare. Sometimes lonsdaleite is formed when meteorites, which include graphite, collide with the Earth.

The most expensive metal in the world and the densest substance on the planet

Posted on 02/01/2012 (valid until 02/01/2013)

There are a lot of different metals and precious stones in nature, the cost of which is very high for most of the inhabitants of the planet. About precious stones, people more or less have an idea of ​​which are the most expensive, which are most valued. But, here's how things are with metals, most people, apart from gold and platinum, no longer know expensive metals. What is the most expensive metal in the world? People's curiosity has no boundaries, they are in search of answers to the most interesting questions... Finding out the cost of the most expensive metal on the planet is not a problem, since this is not classified information.

Most likely, this is the first time you hear this name - the isotope Osmium of the 1870s. This chemical element is the most expensive metal in the world. You could see the name of this chemical element in the periodic table at number 76. Osmium isotope is the most dense substance on the planet. Its density is 22.61 g / cm 3. Under normal standard conditions, osmium is silvery in color and has a pungent odor. This metal belongs to the group of platinum metals. This metal is used in the production nuclear weapons, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, sometimes jewelry.

But now the main question is - how much is the most expensive metal in the world? Now its cost on the black market is $ 200,000 per gram. Since obtaining the isotope of the 1870s is a very difficult task, few people will undertake this task. Earlier, in 2004, Kazakhstan officially offered one gram of pure Osmium isotope for $ 10,000. Kazakhstan once became the first expert on expensive metal, no other country offered this metal for sale anymore.

Osmium was discovered by the English chemist Smithson Tennant in 1804. Osmium is obtained from enriched raw materials of platinum metals by calcining this concentrate in air at temperatures of 800-900 degrees Celsius. And until now, scientists replenish the periodic table, receiving elements with incredible properties.

Many will say that there is even more expensive metal - this is California 252. The price of California 252 is $ 6,500,000 per gram. But, it is worth considering the fact that the world stock of this metal is only a few grams. So, as it is produced only at two reactors in Russia and the United States at 20-40 micrograms per year. But, its properties are very impressive: 1 μg of californium gives more than 2 million neutrons per second. Last years this metal is used in medicine as a point source of neutrons for local treatment of malignant tumors.

The "most extreme" option. Sure, 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.

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 applications 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 and 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 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.

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 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.

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 beginning 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 that 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 really 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 (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 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.

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Density, or more precisely, the bulk mass 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 little US and Russian contributions.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 lethal 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 manufacture 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 Eugène-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.

For centuries, precious metals have captivated the minds of people who are ready to shell out huge sums for products made from them, but the metal in question is not used in jewelry production. Osmium is the heaviest substance on Earth and belongs to the rare earth precious metals. Due to its high density, this substance is very heavy. Is osmium the heaviest substance (among the known) not only on planet Earth, but also in space?

This substance is a shiny blue-gray metal. Despite the fact that it is a representative of the genus of noble metals, it is not possible to make jewelry out of it, since it is very hard and, at the same time, fragile. Because of these qualities, osmium is difficult to machine, to which you still need to add its solid weight. If you weigh a cube made of osmium (side length 8 cm) and compare it with the weight of a 10-liter bucket filled with water, then the first will be 1.5 kg heavier than the second.

The heaviest substance on Earth was discovered at the beginning of the 18th century, thanks to chemical experiments with platinum ore by dissolving the latter in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids). Since osmium does not dissolve in acids and alkalis, melts at a temperature slightly above 3000 ° C, boils at 5012 ° C, does not change its structure at a pressure of 770 GPa, it can be confidently considered the strongest substance on Earth.

In its pure form, osmium deposits do not exist in nature; it is usually found in compounds with other chemicals... Its content in the earth's crust is scanty, and extraction is laborious. These factors have a huge impact on the cost of osmium, its price is amazing, because it is much more expensive than gold.

Due to its high cost, this substance is not widely used for industrial purposes, but only in cases where its use is due to the maximum benefit. Due to the combination of osmium with other metals, the wear resistance of the latter increases, their durability and resistance to mechanical stress (friction and corrosion of metals). Such alloys are used in rocketry, military and aviation industries. An alloy of osmium and platinum is used in medicine for the manufacture of surgical instruments and implants. Its use is justified in the production of highly sensitive instruments, watch movements and compasses.

An interesting fact is that scientists find osmium along with other precious metals in the chemical composition of iron meteorites that fell to the ground. Does this mean that this element is the heaviest substance on Earth and in space?

It is difficult to assert this. The fact is that the conditions of outer space are very different from those on Earth, the force of gravity between objects is very high, which in turn leads to a significant increase in the density of some space objects. One example is stars made of neutrons. By earthly standards, this is a huge weight in one cubic millimeter. And these are only grains of knowledge that humanity possesses.

The most expensive and heaviest substance on earth is osmium-187; only Kazakhstan sells it on the world market, but this isotope has not yet been used in industry.

The extraction of osmium is a very laborious process, and it takes at least nine months to obtain it in a consumer form. In this regard, the annual production of osmium in the world is only about 600 kg (this is very small compared to the production of gold, which is calculated in thousands of tons annually).

The name of the strongest substance "osmium" is translated as "smell", but the metal itself does not smell of anything, but the smell appears during the oxidation of osmium, and it is quite unpleasant.

So, in terms of gravity and density on Earth, there is no equal to osmium, this metal is also described as the rarest, most expensive, most persistent, most brilliant, and experts also say that osmium oxide has a very strong toxicity.