What is the rarest substance on earth?
- t hasn’t been found yet.
The absolute rarest substance will probably never be found, that’s what makes it so rare.
- Astatine. Less than 30 g exists on Earth at any one time as a natural by-product of uranium and thorium decay.
If you’ve got some, you can sell it for a lot!
- The element astatine is the rarest element in the Earth’s crust, with around 25 g (0.9 oz) in total occurring naturally. Astatine is a member of the halogen group of elements, which also includes, chlorine, fluorine, and iodine. The element was discovered in 1931.
- There is a substance like a diamond matter that was originally found on a meteor known as moissanites. There is only less than an ounce remaining on earth. The substance is more valuable than diamonds and is now being laboratorily reproduced. You can buy this reproduction at Lazarus
- Astatine is a good answer, but if you stretch “substance” to include other forms of matter, there may be rarer substances.
Antimatter is rare both on earth and in our corner of the universe, but it does exist. Experiments in any college science lab can show that positrons are created when certain radioactive elements decay. The positrons are almost immediately annialated when they encounter the much more abundant electrons. I don’t know if all of the positrons on earth would add to 30g, you certainly wouldn’t want 30g in one place!
Other rare substances are other short-lived man-made elements high on the periodic table, W particles, and Einstine-Bose condensates.
tantalum-180 the world’s stock is measured in a few milligrams
Gold is up to about $770 per troy ounce
Platinum is pricey, was more expensive than gold, but I don’t know how it has been going up lately
We are living in an age where all this will fluctuate suddenly depending on which substances become most valuable.
Cell phones started using some mineral found in
Other than the tantalum-180, I do not know what mineral is most valuable, which is different from most rare.
For rarity AND value I think EMERALD is one good choice, as is PLATINUM.
It may turn out as science advances, that we will discover the MOST VALUABLE substances are to be found easily among the most abundant ones.
I am not a highly experienced geologist or chemist, but if you are lucky there will be one who sees this question….
But I am a biology and medicine pro, and I can tell you for sure that when a medicine is found that corrects some grievous condition, especially one leading to death, people will pay vast sums for it.
Then it becomes a precious remedy, whether or not it is rare or difficult to make. They should only charge a fair profit in my view….
The Canadians are complaining about some medicine for a genetic disorder that costs more than $200,000 per year and is difficult to make, but I have forgotten exactly what that is.
Right now there are lots of very valuable substances, so your question is good. Someone needs to make a list. If I find one on the internet, I will do an edit here.
At least this answer will provide some perspective.
Edit: Could not find a list in short search. Most valuable substance is the one you need the most, like water in the desert, but hopefully we won’t need much of the rarest substances. Lots of good stuff in outer space…