Greatest Density?
Leonard M. Wapner
He wishes to fill a small container - say a box of volume 1 cu ft - with the
most dense material available on earth. By "available" he means readily
available in the sense that one could actually acquire the stuff. So,
sub-atomic, laboratory constructed and "black hole" type masses are being
excluded.
What "stuff" is most dense so that the box will weigh as much as possible?
L
Greg
Spoiler -
http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/density.html
The densest material on Earth (not counting subatomic particles) is
iridium metal (22.65 g/cm3).
Google is your friend.
--
Greg
phobos78-marslink-net
Replace dashes and move in by 1 planet to reply.
Patrick Hamlyn
Depends how deep his pockets are. He can easily buy lead I'm sure. But gold
would cost *lots* more and is denser.
Better still would be iridium or osmium, the most dense elements (they trade
places from time to time). Osmium is about 5 times cheaper, averaging around
US$100 per ounce. Be warned: A cubic foot of Osmium is a *lot* of ounces.
http://www.amm.com/ref/platgrp.htm
--
Patrick Hamlyn posting from Perth, Western Australia
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Ted S.
news:n5vgpvgtgjde79glk...@4ax.com:
>The densest material on Earth (not counting subatomic particles) is
>iridium metal (22.65 g/cm3).
How much does a cubic foot of iridium cost?
--
Ted S.: change .spam to .net to reply by e-mail
When will I learn? The answers to life's problems aren't at the bottom of
a bottle. They're on TV! --Homer Simpson
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r.e.s.
| Osmium is about 5 times cheaper, averaging around US$100 per ounce.
| ...
| http://www.amm.com/ref/platgrp.htm
Looks like that page dates to sometime before September 2001.
The price of iridium hasn't been over $400/oz since then, when
it began a steady fall that levelled out at $90/oz in April 2003.
Presently, *osmium* is $400/oz, over 4 times the price of iridium!
http://www.engelhard.com/eibprices/ has current & historical prices.
ClgBzqHxhVPTtDfLsRJZSWjcNdpnmFrbMGXQwkvK
r.e.s.
| Somebody claiming to be Greg <phob...@seemysig.com> wrote in
| news:n5vgpvgtgjde79glk...@4ax.com:
|
| >The densest material on Earth (not counting subatomic particles) is
| >iridium metal (22.65 g/cm3).
|
| How much does a cubic foot of iridium cost?
The current price is 90 USD/ troy oz, and typing
1 ft^3 * (22.65 g/cm^3) ) * 90 /troy oz
into Google gives
1 855 866.22 (USD).
-
PLDTJsgFtQXzxWKndZMGHRSljhkqfVBNCwrpbmvc
Ken Arromdee
--
Ken Arromdee / arromdee_AT_rahul.net / http://www.rahul.net/arromdee
"How pleasant it would be if only we lived a hundred years ago when it was
easy to get servants."
"It would be horrible... We'd be the servants." -- Isaac Asimov
r.e.s.
| Who says the substance has to be an element?
I think it was Greg. ;o)
John R Ramsden
Apparently Osmium and Iridium are hellishly difficult to separate,
and both are almost always sold mixed in the form of a so-called
Osmiridium alloy.
A couple of years ago in sci.physics I asked about the possibility
of a pure Osmium paper weight (coated in gold, as the Osmium would
oxidize in the air).
In reply someone posted a URL to the US Atomic Energy Authority or
some such, who quote a collosal price for 99% pure powdered Iridium,
something like $100,000 per ounce.
The conclusion was that I'd be better off buying a depleted Uranium
paper weight ;-)
If anyone is interested, I'll try and dig out the reference. But
it can probably be found by searching for 'powdered Osmium', or
for that matter "'paper weight' Osmium" in sci.physics!
Cheers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John R Ramsden (j...@adslate.com)
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"Eternity is a long time, especially towards the end."
Woody Allen
John R Ramsden
>
> [...]
>
> In reply someone posted a URL to the US Atomic Energy Authority or
> some such, who quote a collosal price for 99% pure powdered Iridium,
> something like $100,000 per ounce.
I meant pure powdered Osmium, and it's more like $100 per ounce.
After posting the above I did a search, and according to
http://www.chemistry.pomona.edu/Chemistry/periodic_table/Elements/Osmium/osmium.htm
extra pure Osmium of 190.2 mol. wt. is available from Sigma-Aldrich for
$140.35 per gram. (still quite pricey for a 10 kg paper weight though :-)
Terry O'Brien
> extra pure Osmium of 190.2 mol. wt. is available from Sigma-Aldrich for
> $140.35 per gram. (still quite pricey for a 10 kg paper weight though :-)
Osmium 192 would have an S.G. of about 22.85 compared to 22.65 of the
naturally occurring mixture as above. Natural Osmium contains about 35%
Osmium 192 and is (at a price) available commercially.