The lightest metal. What are the light metals?

The first metals that the man discovered were gold, copper and silver. They were used in ancient times. What are these substances? Which metal is the easiest?

Metals

For the first time man discovered metals that are close to the earth's surface. At first they were copper, gold and silver, later they were joined by tin, iron, bronze and lead. With the development of humanity, the list gradually expanded. At present, about 94 metals have been discovered.

They are simple elements that have high electrical conductivity and heat exchange, plasticity, yield to forging, have a characteristic metallic luster. In nature, they are often found in the form of various compounds and ores.

By their qualities, metals are divided into black, colored and precious. For use, they are separated from the ore, cleaning, alloying and other types of processing are carried out. Metals are part of living organisms present in sea water.

In our body they are in small numbers, performing important functions for life. In the liver there is copper, calcium - in the skeleton and teeth, sodium - in the cytoplasm of cells, iron is part of the blood, and in the muscles is magnesium.

The lightest metal

In the minds of many people, the opinion about metals as solid, hard and heavy substances was fixed. Some of them do not fit the description. There are a number of metals that have little strength and are extremely light for these elements. They can even float on the surface of the water.

The lightest metal in the world is lithium. At room temperature, its density is the lowest. It yields to water almost twice and is 0.533 grams per cubic centimeter. Due to its small density it floats up in the water and kerosene.

Lithium is found in sea water and the upper continental crust. In large quantities, the lightest metal is present in the Torn-Zhitkov star facility, which consists of a supergiant and a red giant.

Under normal conditions, lithium is a ductile malleable silver metal, so soft that it can be cut with a knife. Melts at a temperature of 181 degrees Celsius. It is toxic and actively interacts with the environment, so it is not used in its pure form.

Aluminum

After lithium, the lightest metal is aluminum, and it is also very strong. Due to his active use in various fields, he earned the title of "20th Century Metal". In the crust of our planet, it is the third most common element and the first among metals.

Aluminum has a silvery-white color, has a high plasticity, thermal and electrical conductivity. It is able to form alloys with almost any metal. It is most often used together with magnesium and copper. Many of its alloys are stronger than steel.

Aluminum is weakly susceptible to corrosion damage due to the formation of oxide films. It boils at a temperature of 2500 degrees Celsius. It is a weak paramagnet. In nature, metal is contained in the form of compounds, its nuggets are extremely rare in the vents of some volcanoes.

Easier than the lung

Mikrolatthis is the lightest metal produced artificially. It consists of air at 99.99% and is much lighter than foam. Metal was created by scientists from the University of California, in 2016 he was officially recognized and was listed in the Book of Records.

The secret of unusual lightness lies in its structure, resembling the bones of living organisms. Metal is a cell that is made of nickel-phosphorus tubes. They are empty inside, and their thickness is several times inferior to human hair.

Despite the ease, microlattis is able to withstand heavy loads no worse than natural metals. Such properties can be widely used, one of them is the creation of artificial lungs.