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LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse
Abundance of Lhe LlemenLs: LarLh vs. unlverse
ulscovery of Lhe LlemenLs
LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 1
Hydrogen and helium together account for
about 99% of the mass of the universe.

This is over 99.9% of the number of atoms
Source: Mackay and Mackay
Cosmlc Abundance
Element By No. of Atoms By Mass
H 92.8% 76%
He 7.1% 23%
All others 0.1% 1%
LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 2
There is a pronounced alternation in
abundances between successive
elements.
Elements of even atomic number are
generally more abundant.
Z
Element Abundance,ppm
6
Carbon 4,600
7
Nitrogen 970
8
Oxygen 10,700
9
Fluorine 0.4
10
Neon 1,340
11
Sodium 22
12
Magnesium 580
13
Aluminum 55
LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 3
Li, Be, and B are markedly scarce relative
to their neighbors.





Source: Mackay and Mackay
Z Element Abundance,ppm
2 Helium 240,000
3 Lithium 0.006
4 Beryllium 0.001
5 Boron 0.001
6 Carbon 4,600
7 Nitrogen 970
LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 4
Overall trend is for cosmic abundance to
decline with increasing Z (!"##$#%&'(!(%)$%*&+$
+"(,*'-.(+,$"!"/"+%#0$ $$


Z Element
Abundance,
ppm
8 Oxygen 10,700
16 Sulfur 440
34 Selenium 0.05
52 Tellurium 0.002
PeavlesL elemenLs accounL for only 100
mllllonLh of all mauer by number of aLoms or
a mllllonLh by mass.

LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 4
LlemenLs ln Lhe unlverse - 4
Drop in abundance
with Z is interrupted at
Fe; Fe is abundant
compared to its
neighbors
Z
Element Abundance,
ppm
18
Argon 220
20
Calcium 67
22
Titanium 3
24
Chromium 14
26
Iron 1090
28 Nickel 60
30 Zinc 0.3
Abundance of Lhe
LlemenLs:

LarLh vs.
unlverse
At least in the earths crust, heavy
elements are more abundant than they
are in the universe as a whole

LarLh vs. unlverse - 1
Lxplanauon
Matter of which the earth was made has probably been
through many cycles of star formation, evolution and
death.
First stars formed about 13 B years ago.
Earth together with our star formed about 5 B years
ago.
That is an interval of about 8 B years
LarLh vs. unlverse - 2
Abundance of Lhe noble gases on earLh ls
very low compared Lo abundance ln Lhe
unlverse.

Element
Abundance
Earth, ppm
Abundance
Universe, ppm
Helium 0.01 240,000
Neon 0.005 1.340
Argon 3 220
Krypton 0.0002 0.04
Lxplanauon
At the early stages of the formation of the earth, it was a
hot mass.
At these high temperatures, the gravitational field of
such a small planet was NOT sufficient to hold onto its
original gaseous atmosphere.
Unable to form solid or high melting compounds, they
leaked into interplanetary space

LarLh vs. unlverse - 3
Oxygen is more abundant on earth than in the universe.
Nitrogen is more abundant in the universe than on
earth.
Element Earth Universe
O 464,000 10,700
N 20 970
O/N 23000:1 11:1
Lxplanauon
Cxygen was reLalned ln large quanuues on earLh
because lL ls a reacuve elemenL and comblned wlLh
oLher elemenLs Lo produce solld, hlgh-melung
oxldes.

nlLrogen, belng less reacuve was largely losL.
ulscovery of
Lhe LlemenLs
16
Lh
CenLury
1en were known ln Lhe anclenL umes buL were noL
recognlzed as elemenLs:
Sb, C, Cu, Au, le, b, Pg, Ag, S, Sn

ConcepL of elemenL aL LhaL ume:
WaLer, earLh, alr and re


16
Lh
CenLury
ArlsLoLle declared Lhe exlsLence of only four
elemenLs:
re, alr, waLer and earLh
All mauer ls made up of Lhese four elemenLs
and
Mauer had four properues:
hoL, cold, weL and dry
16
Lh
CenLury
Cnly Lwo dlscoverles durlng Lhe lauer parL of Lhls perlod:
As and L

AlchemlsLs auempLed Lo LransmuLe cheap meLals Lo gold.
1he subsLance used for Lhls converslon was called Lhe
hllosophers SLone.
AlchemlsLs also wanLed Lo nd a chemlcal concocuon LhaL
would enable people Lo llve longer and cure all allmenLs ---
ellxlr of llfe --- never happened elLher.
17
Lh
CenLury
8oberL 8oyle
(1627-1691)
hup://en.wlklpedla.org/wlkl/lmage:8oberL_8oyle.[pg
- Pelped alchemy
maLure lnLo modern
chemlsLry
17
Lh
CenLury
8oberL 8oyle
ueclared Lhe elemenLs Lo be Lhe pracucal llmlLs of
chemlcal analysls.


8elleved Lhem Lo be subsLances lncapable of
decomposluon by any means wlLh whlch we are aL
presenL acqualnLed.
17
Lh
CenLury
8oyles denluon of an elemenL provldes
concepLual Lool for Lesung wheLher a subsLance ls
an elemenL or noL
ln Lhe followlng cenLury, Lhe number of known
elemenLs was doubled
18
Lh
CenLury
AnLolne Lavolsler
(1743 - 1794)

8eamrmed 8oyles
descrlpuon of an
elemenL.

18
Lh
CenLury
AnLolne Lavolsler

LlemenLs are Lhe lasL polnL whlch analysls ls capable of
reachlng and lnLo whlch we are able Lo reduce bodles by
decomposluon.
Pls quanuLauve experlmenLs led hlm Lo conclude LhaL lf a
reacuon produced a subsLance LhaL welghed more Lhan Lhe
orlglnal reacLanL Lhen Lhe producL could noL be an elemenL.
18
Lh
CenLury
AnLolne Lavolsler

1789: ubllshed whaL ls consldered Lhe rsL LexLbook ln
chemlsLry, 1ralLe LlemenLalre de Chlmle (LlemenLary
1reause of ChemlsLry).
lncluded was a Lable of Lhe elemenLs whlch lncluded 10 new
elemenLs.

8efore Lhe cenLury was over 8 more were dlscovered.
18
Lh
CenLury
Lavolsler was accused of cheaung Lhe
governmenL of revenue from Lobacco and was
beheaded.
1%$%--2$'3%$&$/-/"+%$%-$43%$-5$%*&%$*"&67$
%*-3,*$&$*3+6."6$)"&.#$8".*&8#$9(!!$'"$.":3(."6$
%-$8.-634"$&+-%*".$!(2"$(%;$
Lagrange,
MaLhemauclan
19
Lh
CenLury
1803 - 1808: uL
forward Lhe ALomlc
1heory

!ohn ualLon
(1766 - 1844)
ualLons ConcepL of an LlemenL
1he aLoms of Lhe same elemenL were all allke, buL Lhe aLoms
of dlerenL elemenLs dlered ln boLh shape and welghL.

8elauve aLomlc welghLs-Lhese he could deLermlne.
ubllshed 1he 1able of ALomlc WelghLs of Lhe LlemenLs.
19
Lh
CenLury
AL Lhe sLarL of Lhe cenLury: 31 known elemenLs
8y mld-1860s, Lhe number doubled
AL Lhe close of Lhe cenLury 82 were known
19
Lh
CenLury
CLher facLors LhaL led Lo more dlscoverles:

- lmproved analyucal Lechnlques so LhaL elemenLs
wlLh slmllar properues were separaLed

- uevelopmenL of Lhe elecLrolyuc meLhod of
decomposlng compounds

- uevelopmenL of Lhe specLroscope for sLudylng Lhe
llghL emlued by aLoms
20
Lh
CenLury
1914: Penry Moseley (1883-1913) ldenued Lhe
aLomlc number as a fundamenLal properLy unlque
Lo each elemenL.
SclenusLs aL lasL knew whaL lL ls ln aLom LhaL
dlsungulshes aLoms of dlerenL elemenLs from one
anoLher.
LlemenLs can now be made ln Lhe laboraLory
As of 2010,
Lhere are 114 known elemenLs:
Lhe lasL elemenL omclally added Lo Lhe Lable was
elemenL 112, Copernlclum
Lhe newcomers are elemenLs 114 and 116, and Lhey've
[usL passed a Lhree-year dellberauon
93 occur naLurally on earLh (lncludlng Lechneuum and
pluLonlum)
94 (lncludlng promeLhlum) have been deLecLed so far ln
Lhe unlverse
23 elemenLs noL found on earLh are derlved aruclally

hup://en.wlklpedla.org/wlkl/Chemlcal_elemenL
That is the essence of science: ask an
impertinent question, and you are on
your way to the pertinent answer..

Jacob Bronowski
The Ascent of man, 1973
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