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Asked by wizzyg12 to Claire, Kate, Matt, Rob, Sam on 18 Jun 2013.
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Robert Woolfson answered on 18 Jun 2013:
The most valuable element is a type of Helium called Helium-3. Most helium on the planet is helium-4, which is useful for cooling things down very cold. To go even colder, you need helium-3 but it costs something like £1 million per litre.
The most dangerous? Probably fluorine. In some circumstances it’s very safe but as hydrofluoric acid or as loose F- ions it’s one of the most dangerous things to work with. Being exposed to almost any hydrofluoric acid (HF) is an incredibly slow and painful way to die. (Sorry if that was a bit graphic).
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Matthew Pankhurst answered on 18 Jun 2013:
I’d agree that the most dangerous element is fluorine. When it combines with hydrogen as hydrofluoric acid it dissolves away the calcium in your bones – leaving your muscles and other bits almost untouched – gross! Also, it’s a poisonous gas (you can get it around volcanoes so you have to be careful!). However, when it is in other forms its very good for you. Fluorine combined with other elements are put into drinking water because it helps peoples teeth stay strong. Many elements can do many different things, which is why chemistry can be so interesting 🙂
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Sam Geen answered on 21 Jun 2013:
Value is something that depends on whether people think it’s valuable. Gold is valuable because it’s rare, so it’s useful for trading. But when the Spanish conquered South America they brought back a lot of gold – and because there was more of it, the value went down (if you have twice as much of something, you value it less). This effect is called inflation, but at the time they didn’t understand what was happening – they thought that gold was always valuable! But like Rob says, in science certain things that are very rare can be very useful, and hence very expensive!
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