Which Metals Are The Least Useful?
Take a look at the room around you. What do you see? Chances are, you’ll see a lot of household appliances, cookware, and other equipment. What do all of these items have in common? They use metals as a primary component! Metals are useful in a wide variety of applications. In fact, there aren’t a lot of things that we use that don’t incorporate metals in some way. However, that doesn’t mean that all metals have their uses! There are some metals out there that aren’t fit for most applications. We break it down for you below!
Francium
We’re willing to bet that most of the people reading this are just hearing about francium for the first time! There’s a good reason behind that, too; francium is classified as the rarest metal on the periodic table. It only makes sense that a metal that’s hard to find isn’t used much! However, that isn’t the main reason why it has no practical use. Francium is very unstable, and this is supported by the fact that it only has a half-life of 22 minutes! A francium product would be unusable before it was even sold.
Protactinium
While francium is the rarest unstable metal, protactinium is the rarest stable metal. There’s one thing that the two metals have in common; they both don’t have any practical uses! While protactinium is considered to be stable, it’s also highly radioactive and toxic. To give you an idea, most protactinium is extracted from spent nuclear fuel. The only use it has right now is for scientific research, so it’s not exactly useful!
Tellurium
Tellurium is a metal that’s actually dangerous by itself! Prolonged exposure to this metal can result in plenty of annoying side effects, such as headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. The only real practical application for tellurium is being a combining element in certain metal alloys. Specifically, tellurium can be used as a component of stainless steel! Tack on the fact that this metal is one of the rarest elements on Earth, and you have yourself a metal that’s pretty useless in the field.
Metalworking at Markham Metals
If you can name a type of metalworking, there’s a very good chance that Markham Metals can help you get the job done! We’re expertly trained in bending, warping and shaping metals to your exact specified dimensions for use in many applications. We also carry our own in-line product stock for your needs. If you have a metalworking job you need done, click here to contact us directly!
Take a look at the room around you. What do you see? Chances are, you’ll see a lot of household appliances, cookware, and other equipment. What do all of these items have in common? They use metals as a primary component! Metals are useful in a wide variety of applications. In fact, there aren’t a lot of things that we use that don’t incorporate metals in some way. However, that doesn’t mean that all metals have their uses! There are some metals out there that aren’t fit for most applications. We break it down for you below!
Francium
We’re willing to bet that most of the people reading this are just hearing about francium for the first time! There’s a good reason behind that, too; francium is classified as the rarest metal on the periodic table. It only makes sense that a metal that’s hard to find isn’t used much! However, that isn’t the main reason why it has no practical use. Francium is very unstable, and this is supported by the fact that it only has a half-life of 22 minutes! A francium product would be unusable before it was even sold.
Protactinium
While francium is the rarest unstable metal, protactinium is the rarest stable metal. There’s one thing that the two metals have in common; they both don’t have any practical uses! While protactinium is considered to be stable, it’s also highly radioactive and toxic. To give you an idea, most protactinium is extracted from spent nuclear fuel. The only use it has right now is for scientific research, so it’s not exactly useful!
Tellurium
Tellurium is a metal that’s actually dangerous by itself! Prolonged exposure to this metal can result in plenty of annoying side effects, such as headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. The only real practical application for tellurium is being a combining element in certain metal alloys. Specifically, tellurium can be used as a component of stainless steel! Tack on the fact that this metal is one of the rarest elements on Earth, and you have yourself a metal that’s pretty useless in the field.
Metalworking at Markham Metals
If you can name a type of metalworking, there’s a very good chance that Markham Metals can help you get the job done! We’re expertly trained in bending, warping and shaping metals to your exact specified dimensions for use in many applications. We also carry our own in-line product stock for your needs. If you have a metalworking job you need done, click here to contact us directly!