chemistry

Prices of chemical elements

Prices of chemical elements is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prices of chemical elements rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of prices of chemical elements. Listed here are mainly average market prices for bulk trade of commodities.

Key takeaways

Prices of chemical elements belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prices of chemical elements to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prices of chemical elements from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of prices of chemical elements. Listed here are mainly average market prices for bulk trade of commodities. Data on elements' abundance in Earth's crust is added for comparison. As of 2025, the most expensive non-synthetic element by mass is rhodium, and by volume, iridium. It is followed by rhodium, caesium, iridium and palladium by mass and iridium, gold and platinum by volume. Carbon in the form of diamond can be more expensive than rhodium. Per-kilogram prices of some synthetic radioisotopes range to trillions of dollars. While the difficulty of obtaining macroscopic samples of synthetic elements in part explains their high value, there has been interest in converting base metals to gold (chrysopoeia) since ancient times, but only deeper understanding of nuclear physics has allowed the actual production of a tiny amount of gold from other elements for research purposes as demonstrated by Glenn Seaborg. However, both this and other routes of synthesis of precious metals via nuclear reactions is orders of magnitude removed from economic viability. Chlorine, sulfur and carbon (as coal) are cheapest by mass. Hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and chlorine are cheapest by volume at atmospheric pressure. When there is no public data on the element in its pure form, price of a compound is used, per mass of element contained. This implicitly puts the value of compounds' other constituents, and the cost of extraction of the element, at zero. For elements whose radiological properties are important, individual isotopes and isomers are listed. The price listing for radioisotopes is not exhaustive.

Chart A pink background means that the element is significantly radioactive. Bismuth is not highlighted because its radioactivity is considered negligible here. (Bismuth is stable enough to be used for the production of cosmetics.)

See also 2000s commodities boom Precious metal

Notes

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prices of chemical elements

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prices of chemical elements claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prices of chemical elements before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prices of chemical elements ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prices of chemical elements

In research: Prices of chemical elements appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prices of chemical elements in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prices of chemical elements is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Chemical industry, Commodity markets, Pricing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prices of chemical elements outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Prices of chemical elements in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prices of chemical elements means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prices of chemical elements out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prices of chemical elements in simple terms?

This is a list of prices of chemical elements. Listed here are mainly average market prices for bulk trade of commodities.

Why does Prices of chemical elements matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prices of chemical elements?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prices of chemical elements.