Chemical Abundances - kastatic.org
CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES
EARTH’S CRUST 100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
ELEMENTS > 1%
PERCENTAGE OF ABUNDANCE
oxygen silicon aluminum iron calcium magnesium sodium potassium
LOCATION ON THE PERIODIC TABLE
46% 27% 8% 6% 5% 3% 2% 2%
ELEMENTS < 1%
GOLD PROFILE
79
Au
79 118
gold
196.966569
Extremely high mass stars can form heavier elements like gold as they age and when they die in supernovae. Gold is one of the most coveted of elements and has been prized for centuries. As of 2012, roughly 165,000 metric tons of gold has been mined from the Earth’s crust. That’s about 5,304,873 troy ounces. It would all fit in a 20-meter cube (about the size of a medium-sized building or 60 semitrailers) and is worth close to $10 trillion. ALL THE MINED GOLD FITS IN:
x 60
titanium carbon hydrogen manganese
0.66 0.18 0.15 0.11
phosphorus fluorine sulfur strontium barium vanadium chlorine chromium zirconium
0.099 0.054 0.042 0.036 0.034 0.019 0.017 0.014 0.013
nickel zinc copper rubidium cerium lanthanum neodymium cobalt yttrium scandium nitrogen gallium niobium lithium
0.0089 0.0078 0.0068 0.006 0.006 0.0034 0.0033 0.003 0.0029 0.0026 0.002 0.0019 0.0017 0.0017
lead praseodymium boron dysprosium thorium samarium gadolinium hafnium erbium bromine ytterbium tin arsenic cesium beryllium uranium europium tantalum argon germanium holmium tungsten molybdenum
9.9×10-4
terbium lutetium thallium iodine thulium antimony indium cadmium
9.3×10-5 5.6×10-5 5.3×10-5 4.9×10-5 4.5×10-5 2×10-5 1.6×10-5 1.5×10-5
silver mercury selenium platinum bismuth
7.9×10-6 6.7×10-6 5×10-6 3.7×10-6 2.5×10-6
palladium helium gold neon rhenium osmium
6.3×10-7 5.5×10-7 3.1×10-7 3×10-7 2.6×10-7 1.8×10-7
tellurium ruthenium rhodium iridium krypton
9.9×10-8 9.9×10-8 7×10-8 4×10-8 1.5×10-8
xenon
2×10-9
radium protactinium
9.9×10-12 9.9×10-13
8.6×10-4 8.6×10-4 6.2×10-4 6×10-4 6×10-4 5.2×10-4 3.3×10-4 3×10-4 3×10-4 2.8×10-4 2.2×10-4 2.1×10-4 1.9×10-4 1.9×10-4 1.8×10-4 1.8×10-4 1.7×10-4 1.5×10-4 1.4×10-4 1.2×10-4 1.1×10-4 1.1×10-4
WEIGHS AS MUCH AS:
x 33,000 AND IS WORTH ABOUT:
$10,000,000,000,000
ELEMENTS = 0% OR UNKNOWN
technetium promethium polonium astatine radon francium actinium neptunium plutonium americium curium
berkelium californium einsteinium fermium mendelevium nobelium lawrencium rutherfordium dubnium seaborgium bohrium
hassium meitnerium darmstadtium roentgenium copernicium ununtrium flerovium ununpentium livermorium ununseptium ununoctium
IMAGE CREDIT NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring DATA CREDITS © Wolfram Alpha, www.wolframalpha.com | World Gold Council
EARTH’S CRUST 100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
ELEMENTS > 1%
PERCENTAGE OF ABUNDANCE
oxygen silicon aluminum iron calcium magnesium sodium potassium
LOCATION ON THE PERIODIC TABLE
46% 27% 8% 6% 5% 3% 2% 2%
ELEMENTS < 1%
GOLD PROFILE
79
Au
79 118
gold
196.966569
Extremely high mass stars can form heavier elements like gold as they age and when they die in supernovae. Gold is one of the most coveted of elements and has been prized for centuries. As of 2012, roughly 165,000 metric tons of gold has been mined from the Earth’s crust. That’s about 5,304,873 troy ounces. It would all fit in a 20-meter cube (about the size of a medium-sized building or 60 semitrailers) and is worth close to $10 trillion. ALL THE MINED GOLD FITS IN:
x 60
titanium carbon hydrogen manganese
0.66 0.18 0.15 0.11
phosphorus fluorine sulfur strontium barium vanadium chlorine chromium zirconium
0.099 0.054 0.042 0.036 0.034 0.019 0.017 0.014 0.013
nickel zinc copper rubidium cerium lanthanum neodymium cobalt yttrium scandium nitrogen gallium niobium lithium
0.0089 0.0078 0.0068 0.006 0.006 0.0034 0.0033 0.003 0.0029 0.0026 0.002 0.0019 0.0017 0.0017
lead praseodymium boron dysprosium thorium samarium gadolinium hafnium erbium bromine ytterbium tin arsenic cesium beryllium uranium europium tantalum argon germanium holmium tungsten molybdenum
9.9×10-4
terbium lutetium thallium iodine thulium antimony indium cadmium
9.3×10-5 5.6×10-5 5.3×10-5 4.9×10-5 4.5×10-5 2×10-5 1.6×10-5 1.5×10-5
silver mercury selenium platinum bismuth
7.9×10-6 6.7×10-6 5×10-6 3.7×10-6 2.5×10-6
palladium helium gold neon rhenium osmium
6.3×10-7 5.5×10-7 3.1×10-7 3×10-7 2.6×10-7 1.8×10-7
tellurium ruthenium rhodium iridium krypton
9.9×10-8 9.9×10-8 7×10-8 4×10-8 1.5×10-8
xenon
2×10-9
radium protactinium
9.9×10-12 9.9×10-13
8.6×10-4 8.6×10-4 6.2×10-4 6×10-4 6×10-4 5.2×10-4 3.3×10-4 3×10-4 3×10-4 2.8×10-4 2.2×10-4 2.1×10-4 1.9×10-4 1.9×10-4 1.8×10-4 1.8×10-4 1.7×10-4 1.5×10-4 1.4×10-4 1.2×10-4 1.1×10-4 1.1×10-4
WEIGHS AS MUCH AS:
x 33,000 AND IS WORTH ABOUT:
$10,000,000,000,000
ELEMENTS = 0% OR UNKNOWN
technetium promethium polonium astatine radon francium actinium neptunium plutonium americium curium
berkelium californium einsteinium fermium mendelevium nobelium lawrencium rutherfordium dubnium seaborgium bohrium
hassium meitnerium darmstadtium roentgenium copernicium ununtrium flerovium ununpentium livermorium ununseptium ununoctium
IMAGE CREDIT NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring DATA CREDITS © Wolfram Alpha, www.wolframalpha.com | World Gold Council
