The lightest element on earth. Surprise: guess what is the third most abundant element in the Universe? How did the periodic table of chemical elements appear?

Man has always sought to find materials that leave no chance for his competitors. Since ancient times, scientists have been looking for the hardest materials in the world, the lightest and the heaviest. The thirst for discovery led to the discovery of an ideal gas and an ideal black body. We present to you the most amazing substances in the world.

1. The blackest substance

The blackest substance in the world is called Vantablack and consists of a combination of carbon nanotubes(see carbon and its allotropic modifications). Simply put, the material consists of countless “hairs”, once caught in them, the light bounces from one tube to another. Thus, about 99.965% is absorbed luminous flux and only a tiny fraction is reflected back out.
The discovery of Vantablack opens up broad prospects for the use of this material in astronomy, electronics and optics.

2. The most flammable substance

Chlorine trifluoride is the most flammable substance ever known to mankind. It is a strong oxidizing agent and reacts with almost all chemical elements. Chlorine trifluoride can burn concrete and easily ignite glass! The use of chlorine trifluoride is practically impossible due to its phenomenal flammability and the impossibility of ensuring safe use.

3. The most poisonous substance

The most powerful poison is botulinum toxin. We know it under the name Botox, which is what it is called in cosmetology, where it has found its main application. Botulinum toxin is a chemical produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. In addition to the fact that botulinum toxin is the most toxic substance, it also has the greatest molecular weight among proteins. The phenomenal toxicity of the substance is evidenced by the fact that only 0.00002 mg min/l of botulinum toxin is enough to make the affected area deadly to humans for half a day.

4. The hottest substance

This is the so-called quark-gluon plasma. The substance was created by colliding gold atoms at near light speed. Quark-gluon plasma has a temperature of 4 trillion degrees Celsius. For comparison, this figure is 250,000 times higher than the temperature of the Sun! Unfortunately, the lifetime of matter is limited to a trillionth of one trillionth of a second.

5. The most caustic acid

In this nomination, the champion is fluoride-antimony acid H. Fluoride-antimony acid is 2×10 16 (two hundred quintillion) times more caustic than sulfuric acid. It is a very active substance and can explode if a small amount of water is added. The fumes of this acid are deadly poisonous.

6. The most explosive substance

The most explosive substance is heptanitrocubane. It is very expensive and is used only for scientific research. But the slightly less explosive octogen is successfully used in military affairs and in geology when drilling wells.

7. The most radioactive substance

Polonium-210 is an isotope of polonium that does not exist in nature, but is manufactured by humans. Used to create miniature, but at the same time, very powerful sources energy. It has a very short half-life and is therefore capable of causing severe radiation sickness.

8. The heaviest substance

This is, of course, fullerite. Its hardness is almost 2 times higher than that of natural diamonds. You can read more about fullerite in our article The Hardest Materials in the World.

9. The strongest magnet

The strongest magnet in the world is made of iron and nitrogen. At present, details about this substance are not available to the general public, but it is already known that the new super-magnet is 18% more powerful than the strongest magnets currently in use - neodymium. Neodymium magnets are made from neodymium, iron and boron.

10. The most fluid substance

Superfluid Helium II has almost no viscosity at temperatures close to absolute zero. This property is due to its unique property of leaking and pouring out of a vessel made of any solid material. Helium II has prospects for use as an ideal thermal conductor in which heat does not dissipate.

The universe hides many secrets in its depths. For a long time, people have sought to unravel as many of them as possible, and, despite the fact that this does not always work out, science is moving forward by leaps and bounds, allowing us to learn more and more about our origins. So, for example, many will be interested in what is the most common one in the Universe. Most people will immediately think of water, and they will be partly right, because the most common element is hydrogen.

The most abundant element in the Universe

It is extremely rare for people to encounter hydrogen in pure form. However, in nature it is very often found in association with other elements. For example, when it reacts with oxygen, hydrogen turns into water. And this is far from the only compound that includes this element; it is found everywhere not only on our planet, but also in space.

How did the Earth appear?

Many millions of years ago, hydrogen, without exaggeration, became building material for the entire Universe. After all, after the big bang, which became the first stage of the creation of the world, nothing existed except this element. elementary because it consists of only one atom. Over time, the most abundant element in the universe began to form clouds, which later became stars. And already inside them reactions took place, as a result of which new, more complex elements appeared, giving rise to planets.

Hydrogen

This element accounts for about 92% of the atoms in the Universe. But it is found not only in stars and interstellar gas, but also in common elements on our planet. Most often it exists in a bound form, and the most common compound is, of course, water.

In addition, hydrogen is part of a number of carbon compounds that form oil and natural gas.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that it is the most common element throughout the world, surprisingly, it can be dangerous for humans because it sometimes catches fire when it reacts with air. To understand how important a role hydrogen played in the creation of the Universe, it is enough to realize that without it nothing living would have appeared on Earth.

There are 94 chemical elements found in nature. To date, another 15 transuranium elements have been artificially obtained (elements from 95 to 109), the existence of 10 of them is indisputable.

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).

Rarest (out of 94)

Lithosphere. Astatine (At): 0.16 g in the earth's crust. Opened in 1940 by Corson (USA) and employees. The naturally occurring isotope astatine 215 (215 At) (discovered in 1943 by B. Karlik and T. Bernert, Austria) exists in quantities of only 4.5 nanograms.

Atmosphere. Radon (Rn): only 2.4 kg (6 10 –20 volume of one part per million). Opened in 1900 by Dorn (Germany). The concentration of this radioactive gas in areas of granite rock deposits is believed to have caused a number of cancers. The total mass of radon found in the earth’s crust, from which atmospheric gas reserves are replenished, is 160 tons.

The lightest

Gas. Hydrogen(H) has a density of 0.00008989 g/cm 3 at a temperature of 0°C and a pressure of 1 atm. Opened in 1776 by Cavendish (Great Britain).

Metal. Lithium(Li), having 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. Discovered in 1804 by Tennant (Great Britain).

The heaviest gas

It is radon (Rn), the density of which is 0.01005 g/cm 3 at 0°C. Opened in 1900 by Dorn (Germany).

Last received

Element 108, or unniloctium (Uno). This provisional name is given by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Obtained in April 1984 by G. Münzenberg and coworkers (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, a message appeared that this element was also obtained by Yu.Ts. Oganesyan and collaborators at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, USSR.

A single unnilenium atom (Une) was obtained 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 highest atomic number (element 109) and the highest 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 (preliminary name - 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(WITH). In its allotropic form, diamond has a Knoop hardness of 8400. Known since prehistoric times.

The most expensive

Californian (Cf) was sold in 1970 at a price of $10 per microgram. Opened in 1950 Seaborg(USA) with employees.

The most flexible

Gold (Au). From 1 g you can draw a wire 2.4 km long. Known since 3000 BC.

Highest tensile strength

Bor(B) – 5.7 GPa. Discovered in 1808 by Gay-Lussac and Thénard (France) and H. Davy (Great Britain).

Melting/boiling point

Lowest. Among non-metals, helium-4 (4He) has the lowest melting point -272.375°C at a pressure of 24.985 atm and the lowest boiling point -268.928°C. Helium 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): –38.836°C (melting point) and 356.661°C (boiling point).

The highest. Among non-metals, the highest melting point and boiling point known since prehistoric times carbon(C): 530°C and 3870°C. However, it seems controversial that graphite is stable at high temperatures. Transitioning from a solid to a vapor state at 3720°C, 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). Opened in 1783 by H.H. and F. d'Eluyarami (Spain).

Isotopes

The largest number of isotopes (36 each) is found in xenon (Xe), discovered in 1898. Ramsay and Traverse (Great Britain), and cesium (Cs), discovered in 1860 by Bunsen and Kirchhoff (Germany). Smallest amount (3: protium, deuterium and tritium) hydrogen(H), discovered in 1776 by Cavendish (Great Britain).

The most stable. Tellurium-128 (128 Te), according to double beta decay, has a half-life of 1.5 10 24 years. Tellurium (Te) was discovered in 1782 by Müller von Reichenstein (Austria). The isotope 128 Te was first discovered in its natural state in 1924. F. Aston(United Kingdom). Data on its superstability were again confirmed in 1968 by studies by 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 cadmium isotope 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 was discovered in 1961 by D. Watt and R. Glover (Great Britain).

The most unstable. Life time lithium-5(5 Li) limited to 4.4 10 –22 s. The isotope was first discovered by E. Titterton (Australia) and T. Brinkley (Great Britain) in 1950.

Liquid series

Given the difference between melting point and boiling point, the element with the shortest liquid series is the inert gas neon(Ne) is only 2.542 degrees (from –248.594°C to –246.052°C), while the longest liquid series (3453 degrees) is 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 has the shortest period helium(Not) - only 5.195 degrees (from absolute zero to -268.928°C), 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 set 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 installations, the most stringent limits on the content in the air are set for thorium-228 (228 Th), which was first discovered 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. Hahn in 1907 (1.1 10 –13 g/l). From an environmental point of view, they have significant half-lives (i.e. over 6 months).

Guinness Book of Records, 1998

We present a selection of chemical records from the Guinness Book of Records.
Due to the fact that new substances are constantly being discovered, this selection is not permanent.

Chemical records for inorganic substances

The most common element in the earth's crust is oxygen O. Its weight content is 49% of the mass of the earth's crust.
The rarest element in the earth's crust is astatine At. Its content in the entire earth's crust is only 0.16 g. The second place in rarity is occupied by the French Fr.
The most common element in the universe is hydrogen H. Approximately 90% of all atoms in the universe are hydrogen. The second most abundant element in the universe is helium He.
The strongest stable oxidizing agent is a complex of krypton difluoride and antimony pentafluoride. Due to its strong oxidizing effect (oxidizes almost all elements to higher oxidation states, including oxidizes air oxygen), it is very difficult for it to measure the electrode potential. The only solvent that reacts with it slowly enough is anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.
The densest substance on planet Earth is osmium. The density of osmium is 22.587 g/cm3.
The lightest metal is lithium Li. The density of lithium is 0.543 g/cm 3 .
The densest compound is ditungsten carbide W 2 C. The density of ditungsten carbide is 17.3 g/cm 3 .
Currently, the lowest density solids are graphene aerogels. They are a system of graphene and nanotubes filled with air layers. The lightest of these aerogels has a density of 0.00016 g/cm 3 . Previous solid with the lowest density - silicon airgel (0.005 g/cm 3). Silicon airgel is used in the collection of micrometeorites present in the tails of comets.
The lightest gas and, at the same time, the lightest non-metal is hydrogen. The mass of 1 liter of hydrogen is only 0.08988 g. In addition, hydrogen is also the most fusible non-metal at normal pressure (melting point is -259.19 0 C).
The lightest liquid is liquid hydrogen. The mass of 1 liter of liquid hydrogen is only 70 grams.
The heaviest inorganic gas at room temperature is tungsten hexafluoride WF 6 (boiling point +17 0 C). The density of tungsten hexafluoride in gas form is 12.9 g/l. Among gases with a boiling point below 0 °C, the record belongs to tellurium hexafluoride TeF 6 with a gas density at 25 0 C of 9.9 g/l.
The most expensive metal in the world is Californian Cf. The price of 1 gram of the 252 Cf isotope reaches 500 thousand US dollars.
Helium He is the substance with the lowest boiling point. Its boiling point is -269 0 C. Helium is the only substance that does not have a melting point at normal pressure. Even at absolute zero it remains liquid and can only be obtained in solid form under pressure (3 MPa).
The most refractory metal and the substance with the highest boiling point is tungsten W. The melting point of tungsten is +3420 0 C, and the boiling point is +5680 0 C.
The most refractory material is an alloy of hafnium and tantalum carbides (1:1) (melting point +4215 0 C)
The most fusible metal is mercury. The melting point of mercury is -38.87 0 C. Mercury is also the heaviest liquid, its density at 25°C is 13.536 g/cm 3 .
The most acid-resistant metal is iridium. Until now, not a single acid or mixture thereof is known in which iridium would dissolve. However, it can be dissolved in alkalis with oxidizing agents.
The strongest stable acid is a solution of antimony pentafluoride in hydrogen fluoride.
The hardest metal is chromium Cr.
The softest metal at 25 0 C is cesium.
The hardest material is still diamond, although there are already about a dozen substances approaching it in hardness (boron carbide and nitride, titanium nitride, etc.).
The most electrically conductive metal at room temperature is silver Ag.
The most low speed sound in liquid helium at a temperature of 2.18 K, it is only 3.4 m/s.
The highest speed of sound in diamond is 18600 m/s.
The isotope with the shortest half-life is Li-5, which decays in 4.4·10-22 seconds (proton ejection). Due to such a short lifetime, not all scientists recognize the fact of its existence.
The isotope with the longest measured half-life is Te-128, with a half-life of 2.2 1024 years (double β decay).
Xenon and cesium have the largest number of stable isotopes (36 each).
The shortest chemical element names are boron and iodine (3 letters each).
The most long names chemical element (eleven letters each) have protactinium Pa, rutherfordium Rf, darmstadtium Ds.

Chemical records for organic substances

The heaviest organic gas at room temperature and the heaviest gas among all at room temperature is N-(octafluorobut-1-ylidene)-O-trifluoromethylhydroxylamine (bp +16 C). Its density as a gas is 12.9 g/l. Among gases with a boiling point below 0°C, the record belongs to perfluorobutane with a gas density at 0°C of 10.6 g/l.
The most bitter substance is denatonium saccharinate. The combination of denatonium benzoate with the sodium salt of saccharin produced a substance 5 times more bitter than the previous record holder (denatonium benzoate).
The most non-toxic organic substance is methane. When its concentration increases, intoxication occurs due to a lack of oxygen, and not as a result of poisoning.
The strongest adsorbent for water was obtained in 1974 from a starch derivative, acrylamide and acrylic acid. This substance is capable of holding water, the mass of which is 1300 times greater than its own.
The strongest adsorbent for petroleum products is carbon airgel. 3.5 kg of this substance can absorb 1 ton of oil.
The most smelly compounds are ethyl selenol and butyl mercaptan - their smell resembles a combination of the smells of rotting cabbage, garlic, onions and sewage at the same time.
The sweetest substance is N-((2,3-methylenedioxyphenylmethylamino)-(4-cyanophenylimino)methyl)aminoacetic acid (lugduname). This substance is 205,000 times sweeter than a 2% sucrose solution. There are several analogues with similar sweetness. Of the industrial substances, the sweetest is talin (a complex of thaumatin and aluminum salts), which is 3,500 - 6,000 times sweeter than sucrose. Recently, neotame has appeared in the food industry, with a sweetness 7000 times higher than sucrose.
The slowest enzyme is nitrogenase, which catalyzes the absorption of atmospheric nitrogen by nodule bacteria. The complete cycle of converting one nitrogen molecule into 2 ammonium ions takes one and a half seconds.
The organic substance with the highest nitrogen content is either bis(diazotetrazolyl)hydrazine C2H2N12, containing 86.6% nitrogen, or tetraazidomethane C(N3)4, containing 93.3% nitrogen (depending on whether the latter is considered organic or not) . These are explosives that are extremely sensitive to shock, friction and heat. Among inorganic substances, the record certainly belongs to gaseous nitrogen, and among compounds, to hydronitrous acid HN 3.
The longest chemical name has 1578 characters in English spelling and is a modified nucleotide sequence. This substance is called: Adenosene. N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5 ′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3 '→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-N- -2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl )cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino-4-( 2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)guanylyl-(3'→5′)-4-deamino- 4-(2,4-dimethylphenoxy)-2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N --2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)adenylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-( tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′-O-(tetrahydromethoxypyranyl)cytidylyl-(3'→5′)-N--2′,3′-O-(methoxymethylene)-octadecakis( 2-chlorophenyl)ester. 5′-.
The longest chemical name has DNA isolated from human mitochondria and consisting of 16,569 nucleotide pairs. The full name of this compound contains about 207,000 characters.
The system of the largest number of immiscible liquids, again separating into components after mixing, contains 5 liquids: mineral oil, silicone oil, water, benzyl alcohol and N-perfluoroethylperfluoropyridine.
The densest organic liquid at room temperature is diiodomethane. Its density is 3.3 g/cm3.
The most refractory individual organic substances are some aromatic compounds. Of the condensed ones, this is tetrabenzheptacene (melting point +570 C), of the non-condensed ones - p-septiphenyl (melting point +545 C). There are organic compounds for which the melting point has not been accurately measured, for example, for hexabenzocoronene it is indicated that its melting point is above 700 C. The thermal crosslinking product of polyacrylonitrile decomposes at a temperature of about 1000 C.
The organic substance with the highest boiling point is hexatriaconylcyclohexane. It boils at +551°C.
The longest alkane is nonacontatrictan C390H782. It was specially synthesized to study the crystallization of polyethylene.
The longest protein is the muscle protein titin. Its length depends on the type of living organism and location. Mouse titin, for example, has 35,213 amino acid residues (mol. weight 3,906,488 Da), human titin has a length of up to 33,423 amino acid residues (mol. weight 3,713,712 Da).
The longest genome is that of the plant Paris japonica. It contains 150,000,000,000 nucleotide pairs - 50 times more than humans (3,200,000,000 nucleotide pairs).
The largest molecule is the DNA of the first human chromosome. It contains about 10,000,000,000 atoms.
The individual explosive with the highest detonation speed is 4,4′-dinitroazofuroxan. Its measured detonation speed was 9700 m/s. According to unverified data, ethyl perchlorate has an even higher detonation rate.
The individual explosive with the highest heat of explosion is ethylene glycol dinitrate. Its heat of explosion is 6606 kJ/kg.
The strongest organic acid is pentacyanocyclopentadiene.
The strongest base is probably 2-methylcyclopropenyllithium. The strongest nonionic base is phosphazene, which has a rather complex structure.