- [Voiceover] The periodic table of elements
currently hosts 118 chemical elements.
Each with its own unique properties and principles.
Elements are the building blocks of nearly
everything we know and use in this world.
From the air we breathe, the medications we take,
and the electronics we use,
elements are the fundamental
building blocks of the universe.
However, out of all 118,
there are some elements that possess
almost magical properties.
Here are the 10 strangest elements.
Number 10, is lutetium.
Lutetium is a silvery white metal
that was first discovered in 1907 by three scientists,
who had each discovered the element
independently of each other.
Lutetium cannot be found in its purest state,
as it is always found bound up with some other elements.
But lutetium is a very unusual element
because of its extreme rarity,
yet not existent practical applications.
In fact, lutetium is so rare,
that it is not only the rarest of all rare earth elements,
but the entire global production of lutetium
is just 10 tons each year.
But beyond that, this strange substance
has very few practical uses.
In fact, just about the only thing that lutetium
is even useful for,
is determining the age of meteorites.
And because of how rare it is,
and how difficult it is to mine,
lutetium is one of the most expensive
rare earth metals, costing approximately
10,000 USD per kilogram.
Number nine, is technetium.
Technetium was given its name
after the Greek word for artificial
because the only method of obtaining this element
is through artificial means.
But technetium is not entirely an artificial element.
In fact, through spectrographic analysis,
technetium has been detected
in the cores of many stars.
Beyond that though,
technetium can only be created through nuclear fission,
large quantities of technetium are typically produced
using spent nuclear fuel rods,
but on top of how difficult technetium is to forge,
technetium is only present for just a few seconds
during nuclear reactions.
This is because technetium has no stable isotopes
and quickly decays out of existence.
In fact, most isotopes of technetium
have half-lives of just under an hour.
Beyond that, technetium, for the most part,
is a strange, yet short lived, nuclear byproduct.
Number eight, is silicon.
Without silicon, our lives would be much, much different
because silicon is the key ingredient
behind computer chips and many other crucial electronics.
Without it, our electronics in our lives, as we know it,
would radically change for the worse.
Fortunately, we don't need to worry about
running out of this element any time soon
because silicon is a naturally occurring element
that comprises roughly 27% of the earth's crust.
Because of the immense importance of silicon,
the section of San Francisco that is home
to the biggest technology firms in the world,
is aptly named after this element.
The place is called, Silicon Valley.
Number seven is gallium.
Gallium is a metal with a very unique property.
Its melting point is 29.77 Celsius,
which means that gallium will invariably
transition into its liquid state right in your hand.
Many people usually are shocked to see
an otherwise dense metal turned to ooze
with just a touch of a hand,
and there is little to fear from gallium.
Unlike mercury, gallium is a nontoxic element
and is quite safe to be handled.
Once it is removed from your hands,
gallium will return to its metallic state.
A popular prank among scientists in the 1920s
was to mold gallium to the shape of silverware
and then leave it for their coworkers to use
while eating lunch.
The pranksters would then watch
as their colleagues screamed in horror
as their utensils melted right out of their hands
while they were eating.
Number six is francium.
The symbol for francium is Fr,
which mirrors the ISO code for the country of France.
This is unsurprising
because this element is actually named after France.
Francium is one of the alkaline metals
and is best known for being the heaviest
of the metals on the periodic table
and also the most unstable.
Little is known about Francium
because it is so incredibly rare.
It is theorized that on earth,
Francium only pops into existence one atom at a time
and is stable for, at most, 22 minutes.
This is because when Francium comes into contact
with water, it will violently explode
and leave the surrounding area flooded with radiation.
This element is particularly dangerous
because the moisture in the air alone
is enough to trigger an explosive reaction.
Scientists have estimated that only about
20 grams of Francium can be found
in the entire planet, at any one time.
As of this video's release,
no practical uses for Francium have been discovered,
and no one has managed to collect enough Francium
to study this strange element in depth.
Number five is curium.
This element is a man made element
that was first discovered by Glenn Seaborg,
and was named in honor of the esteemed chemist,
Marie Curie.
What makes this element so bizarre
is that it is dangerously radioactive.
In fact, curium is so radioactive
that it will actually glow in the dark.
Curium has been used as a power supply
for NASA deep space probes
because it is stable enough to generate
power for decades on end
thanks to its strong radioactive properties.
Many have attempted to use curium in pacemakers
because it can serve as a stable power source.
This is particularly useful
because a curium powered pacemaker
could theoretically operate without interruption
for decades at a time,
reducing the need for followup surgeries.
However, unfortunately for that endeavor,
curium glows bright enough to be seen
straight through a human chest,
and to this day, this element is rarely used
due to its unusually strong radioactive admissions.
Number four is antimony.
This unusual element has had a long history
with humans, dating all the way back to 3,000 BC.
Antimony was commonly used to make small items
and was even used in ancient Egypt
as a form of eyeliner.
Centuries later, antimony was used by monks
to study alchemy.
Unfortunately, all of these groups failed to understand
the true nature of antimony.
Antimony received its modern name
from the French word for, monk killer.
This is because antimony is unusually toxic to humans,
but as previously mentioned,
its practical applications drove many civilizations
throughout history, to use this clearly dangerous element.
Today, antimony is primarily used as a flame retardent,
and unfortunately, the world supply of antimony
is quickly depleting.
Number three is bismuth.
With the element symbol of Br,
bismuth is the heaviest nonradioactive element
and has one of the lowest levels of thermal conductivity.
But what makes bismuth most peculiar
is its unique appearance.
Bismuth has naturally occurring, staircase-shaped
geometric patterns.
Bismuth also has a very unique property.
Bismuth is diamagnetic,
meaning that it is negatively magnetically charged.
Therefore, if you put a magnet between two pieces
of bismuth, the magnet would levitate indefinitely.
Bismuth has been used by humans since ancient times.
Although it was often confused for lead or tin.
Today, bismuth is used for medication,
cosmetics, paint, and bullets.
In 2014, scientists began studying bismuth
to see if it could safely serve as a cheaper alternative
for lead water pipes, and the results of that study
have yet to have been released to the public.
Number two, is elements 112 through 118.
These six elements, copernicium,
ununtrium, flerovium,
ununpentium, livermorium, ununseptium,
and ununoctium, are all man made elements.
Elements 112 through 118 cannot be found
anywhere in nature and have only existed in laboratories
and particle accelerators for fractions of a second.
Elements 112 through 118 were all discovered in the
last 20 years, with the earliest being copernicium,
which was recently discovered in 1996,
and the newest, ununpentium,
which was discovered in 2010.
Due to their artificial origin and very limited lifetime,
it is currently being debated whether these elements
will stay on the periodic table,
and if they have any practical applications at all.
Number one is carbon.
With the element symbol being a simple C,
carbon is arguably the most important element
on the entire periodic table.
This is because almost without exception,
every organism on our planet is a carbon based life form.
Carbon is a key ingredient in DNA,
proteins, cells, water, and even air.
To put things into better perspective,
carbon is responsible for 20%
of the weight of all living things.
Without carbon, all forms of life would not exist
and neither would a lot of nonorganic compounds too.
Oh, and also, the structure of the universe as we know it
would be radically changed.
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