With this question I mean 98+ % unalloyed, so 18ct gold is not considered unmixed 'elemental gold', but plain (non stainless) steel can be considered
as elemental iron as its content is more than 99% Fe.
Lets kick off:
Li (in lithium batteries), C (in the wood stove or bbq charcoal, graphite electrodes, diamonds on grinding tools) , Na (tiny amounts made by NaOH +
Mg) Mg, Al, Si (some old wafers) , S, K (tiny amounts made from KOH + Mg), Ti, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd (small amounts) , Pt (one of the two type S
thermocouple wires) Au, Hg, Pb.
When mixed (but still elemental) , a lot more: N,O,Ar (in air), P (matchboxes), V, Cr, Co (tool and stainless steels, Kanthal wire, type K
thermocouple wires), Rh (in type S thermocouples), Pd (some white golds), Nd (in magnets).
[Edited on 2011-11-2 by metalresearcher]
[Edited on 2011-11-2 by metalresearcher]Adas - 2-11-2011 at 13:41
Aha.
Don't forget about S-H-I-T (T=tritium)Endimion17 - 2-11-2011 at 14:19
You can't really say you've got nitrogen just because you've got air... Either you're talking about reasonably pure elements of mixtures.
I'll include the ones stored in pure state, not the ones I can isolate, like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, or buy (helium).
Lithium, carbon, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminium, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, arsenic, bromine, cadmium, tin,
tellurium, iodine, mercury, lead.
I think that's all. phlogiston - 2-11-2011 at 17:17
Gasses: H2, He, Ar, N2, O2
Alkali metals: Li, Na, K
Alkaline earth: Mg, Ca, Sr
D-block: Y, La, Ti, Zr, V, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Fe, Ru, Co, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Eu, Zn, Cd, Hg
Halogens: Cl2, Br2, I2
f-block: Ce, Pr, Eu
Other: S, Se, Te, As, Sb, Bi, P, Ge, Si, C, Sn, Pb, Al, In
Still a long way to go to complete the table. I haven't bought any of those (either prepared them myself or they were kind gifts). woelen - 2-11-2011 at 23:53
I have most elements, of the stable elements I only miss F, Rb, U, Rh. A few other samples are only small pieces. I have pictures of all elements I
have on my website:
[Edited on 3-11-11 by woelen]rstar - 3-11-2011 at 01:50
Anyone got F2 ?? Chemistry Alchemist - 3-11-2011 at 01:52
Pretty sure my Elements are Sulfur, Aluminum, Cobalt, Lithium, Lead, Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Phosphorus, Zinc, Bismuth, Iodine, Magnesium, Carbon,
Mercury, Silicon, Nickel, Neodymium (in magnet), Boron (in Magnet) and maybe Samarium from a magnet, still need to confirm if it is or notArthur Dent - 3-11-2011 at 04:04
Woelen, that's a mighty nice collection!
The only elemental stuff that's a bit exotic, aside from the common metals and off-the-shelf materials, would be an ounce of reagent-grade silver, a
square foot of titanium metal sheet, and about 2 or 3 grams of elemental arsenic. i used to have reagent grade bromine and iodine but the iodine
evaporated completely and the bromine was way too corrosive and oxidizing even in its original 100 ml bottle so I got rid of it.
Robert
LanthanumK - 3-11-2011 at 04:40
I have pure H, Li, Mg, Co, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Cr, Mo, I2, S, O2, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, W, Pt, Au, Ag, Al, C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Bi, N2, and Sb.MrHomeScientist - 3-11-2011 at 09:42
So far I've got the following pure elements in my collection:
Alkali & Alkaline Earth Metals: H (not an alkali, but it's in this column), Li, Na, Mg
Transition Metals: V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Ag, W, Au, Hg
Metalloids: B, C, O, Al, Si, P, S, Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Bi
Halogens: I
Noble Gases: He, Ar, Kr, Xe
Lanthanides & Actinides: Po - U (represented by my uranium ore sample, generated through decay of the U), Am
That's 35 total, if you don't count the ones I claim through decay chains.
My Cu, In, Bi, Pb, and Ga samples are all semiconductor grade very high 6N purity (99.9999%) kindly donated by a coworker. Many of the other
transition metals I made myself through thermites and other experiments, so probably aren't terribly pure. I'm trying to make as many of these as
possible myself, because it's boring to just go buy everything.
I'm currently working on extracting Nd from magnets, so hopefully will be adding that soon!
I'm also building a large display unit for all this, and once that's done I'll make a video about it as well as the collection itself. Lots of work
ahead of me though!metalresearcher - 3-11-2011 at 10:09
Nice to read these reactions.
@woelen: Where did you get your samples ? It seems they are from www.smart-elements.com ?
@MrHomeScientist: You got the U by a thermite reaction of uranium ore with Al powder ? When Po is a decay product you can also include Th and Rn. And
also Ar as that is a decay product of K-40 of which your body alone has about 20mg.
@LanthanumK: I miss La in your list :-)
[Edited on 2011-11-3 by metalresearcher]MrHomeScientist - 3-11-2011 at 11:35
@MrHomeScientist: You got the U by a thermite reaction of uranium ore with Al powder ? When Po is a decay product you can also include Th and Rn. And
also Ar as that is a decay product of K-40 of which your body alone has about 20mg.
No unfortunately I don't have pure U metal yet, just a sample of its ore. So I use that one sample to basically count for every element in uranium's
decay chains - for some of them this is the only way to collect (like astatine), and others I just don't have a good sample of yet (like thorium).
I've never heard of a uranium thermite, it might work but the raw ore would have lots of impurities in it. I'd be reluctant to try anyway it because
of the possibility of spewing radioactive dust out of the reaction as it burns!Endimion17 - 3-11-2011 at 11:44
Yellowcake thermite works. That's how first samples of the metal were made, afterall. And it's an old textbook example of thermite reaction.
But I advise you strongly not to do it. Ever.Wizzard - 3-11-2011 at 12:15
I would consider pure salts in the collection for those hard-to-get elements (I have a very small amount of pure thorium salt in my posession). But
Iron, I wouldn't consider 99% iron as elementally pure- Those impurities change the characteristics of the substance substancially Iron is soft like gold when 9 5's pure, I believe.
My favorite pure substances in my collection is a few KG single crystal silicon dioxide, and all my crystals of Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Rh, Re, Mg, S, Os and
V Everything else is just a chunk of element.woelen - 3-11-2011 at 23:50
@woelen: Where did you get your samples ? It seems they are from www.smart-elements.com ?
No, I hardly purchased anything from www.smart-elements.com. From them I only purchased some compounds (e.g. Rb2CO3). The elements are either from eBay, or from diverse people, who
offered me samples of elements for very good prices. I even got some for free, just because of my website
I also had a few elements from the USA-based company Emovendo (beryllium, selenium, silver, tellurium) for exceptionally good prices (e.g. 30 grams
selenium 99.999% for only $8, 30 grams silver 99.95% for just $12.50, 30 grams beryllium 99% for just $30), but unfortunately this company stepped out
of the elements business and now they only sell science toys and lots of magnets in all kinds of shapes.LHcheM - 8-11-2011 at 01:59
Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Neon, Magnesium, Aluminium, Phosphorus (btw, what can I do with this? it's Red P), Sulphur,
Chlorine, Argon, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Lead, Molybdenum, Tungsten (again, what can I do with this?), Bromine, Iodine, Barium =PEphoton - 10-11-2011 at 18:25
sexium
sorry couldnt help my selfmr.crow - 11-11-2011 at 08:57
I have a nice little collection
Home made:
Iodine (my favorite, so beautiful), S, Ag powder
Purchased:
Na, Mg, Si, Ge, Pd, Pt, Au, Hg
I plan on making Cu powder sometime soon
Most of the elements are silvery metals, not too interesting
yellowcake thermite, lolWizzard - 11-11-2011 at 09:02
Mr.crow, do you have crystalline Sulfur? It's very beautiful, and a sample is clear/yellow and doesn't damage easily due to handling/air. Highly
recommended
Iron is soft like gold when 9 5's pure, I believe.