Top 5 Most Expensive Elements In The World

If we were to look at the elements that are present, there are around 118 known elements in which 94 of which are produced naturally such as steel, silver, and gold. Others will include synthetics such as curium and also californium.

You might be thinking about the main question of this top which is the most expensive element of them all. Some of you might think it's gold since it is the most used element to represent wealth and luxury.

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To be frank, almost all ancient civilizations considered this metal to be something precious. Science has even proved that the features of gold are almost perfect to be used in electronic devices. But since it is too expensive, it is replaced with other elements.

With a price that fluctuates over time, the price of gold has however increased more throughout the years. But then again gold is not even included on this list.

Here we would like to share with you the top 5 most expensive elements or metals that can be rarely found on the face of the earth. Most of these elements are super rare which explained their significant price.

5. Scandium ($270 per gram)

Scandium is one of the rarest metals that can be found on this earth with a hefty price tag. Scandium has been identified to have a positive effect on aluminum alloy in the 1970s and to this day its use in alloy still remains.

The cost of making scandium is at least $270 per gram and the global trade for scandium oxide is roughly 10,000 kg annually.

4. Plutonium ($4,000 per gram)

You must have heard this element before as plutonium is mainly used in the making of nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors. Both plutonium-239 and plutonium-241 are fissile which are capable of maintaining nuclear chain reaction.

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One has to take extra caution when handling this element as it is highly radioactive. If you wish to purchase plutonium then be ready to flush your wallet as 1 gram of plutonium will cost you at least $4,000.

3. Carbon - Diamond ($65,000)

Unlike other elements on this list, this might just be the most common form of elements that can be found everywhere in our daily lives on top of it being the most crucial one yet. However, this is not the typical form of carbon that you can easily find.

If the carbon atoms are arranged in a certain manner, it can turn into something extremely expensive. And in this case that will be the diamond form which can reach a whopping $65,000 per gram.

2. Californium ($27 million)

In 1950, this element was first produced by the University of California Radiation Laboratory by shelling curium with alpha particles. Ever since then, only a few grams of californium were ever made.

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The production of californium on a global scale is merely 0.5 gram each year and it is estimated that 1 gram of californium cost as much as $27 million.

1. Francium (More Than $1 billion)

It is hard to predict the exact figure for this element especially when francium can disappear really quickly. The half-life of francium is only 22 minutes but it was assumed that francium exists in a very active metal form.

The amount of francium that was ever made in a lab is more than 300,000 atoms. The price for that is simply unknown but if you were to ever buy it, then you would have to prepare several billions of dollars for it as no one would ever want something that disappears in mere moments.

Source:

• Iluminasi

Also read: Top 7 Strongest Material On Earth