Interesting Metal Facts

1. The word metal comes from the Greek word 'metallon,' which means quarry or to mine or excavate.
2. The most abundant metal in the universe is iron, followed by magnesium.
3. The composition of the Earth is not entirely known, but the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust is aluminum. However, the Earth's core likely consists mainly of iron.
4. Metals are primarily shiny, hard solids that are good conductors of heat and electricity.
5. About 75% of the chemical elements are metals. Of the 118 known elements, 91 are metals. Many of the others possess some of the characteristics of metals and are known as semimetals or metalloids.
6. Metals form positively charged ions called cations through loss of electrons. They react with most other elements, but especially nonmetals, such as oxygen and nitrogen.
7. The most commonly used metals are iron, aluminum, copper, zinc, and lead. Metals are used for an enormous number of products and purposes. They are valued for their ability to strength, electrical and thermal properties, ease of bending and drawing into wire, wide availability, and participation in chemical reactions.
8. Although new metals are being produced and some metals were difficult to isolate in pure form, there were seven metals known to ancient man. These were gold, copper, silver, mercury, lead, tin, and iron.
9. The tallest free-standing structures in the world are made of metals, primarily the alloy steel. They include the Dubai skyscraper Burj Kalifa, the Tokyo television tower Skytree, and the Shaghai Tower skyscraper.
10. The only metal that is a liquid at ordinary room temperature and pressure is mercury. However, other metals melt close to room temperature. For example, you can melt the metal gallium in the palm of your hand.
11. Rhodium is the most expensive natural metal whose cost exceeds 175 thousand dollars. Platinum comes the second, and gold is the third.
12. Tungsten has the highest melting point, which explains why the metal is used as spiral in incandescent lamps.
13. The most expensive metal ever made by human is californium 252. The estimated price is 6 500 000 US $ for 1 gram. At the moment the mankind has in its disposal not more than 5 grams of this metal. This rare metal is produced in the powerful reactor whose capacity is limited to only 30 mg a year. Californium 252 is used in medicine in treatment of cancer; in industry for checking welded joints; in instrument engineering as indicator; scope of californium application also includes launching of reactors; it helps geologists to detect ground water flows, and so on and so forth.