Monday 2 March 2015

10 Most Expensive Substances In The World

             10 Most Expensive Substances In The World

   1.ANTIMATTER

        
What you do with it: Antimatter could possibly fuel spaceships to the planets, and maybe the stars, in the years to come.In particle physics, 
antimatter is material 
composed of antiparticles, 
which have the same mass as 
particles of ordinary matter
 but have opposite charge and
 other particle properties 
such as lepton and baryon 
number, quantum spin, etc. 
Encounters between particles
 and antiparticles lead to 
the annihilation of both, 
giving rise to varying 
proportions of high-energy 
photons (gamma rays), 
neutrinos, and lower-mass 
particle–antiparticle pairs. 
Setting aside the mass of 
any product neutrinos, 
which represent released 
energy that generally 
continues to be unavailable, 
the end result of 
annihilation is a 
release of energy 
available to do work, 
proportional to 
the total matter
 and antimatter mass, 
in accord with the 
mass-energy 
equivalence equation, 
E=mc2.[1]


2.californium 252

   
    Cost: $27 million per gram
   What you do with it: The Californium isotope is used in devices that find layers of     oil and water in oil wells.Californium is a radioactive metallic chemical element 
with symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first 
made in 1950 at the University of California Radiation 
Laboratory in Berkeley, by bombarding curium with alpha 
particles (helium-4 ions). It is an actinide element, 
the sixth transuranium element to be synthesized, and 
has the second-highest atomic mass of all the elements 
that have been produced in amounts large enough to see 
with the unaided eye (after einsteinium). The element 
was named after the university and the state of California. 
It is the heaviest element to occur naturally on Earth; 
heavier elements can only be produced by synthesis.


3. Painite

    *Cost: $300,000 per gram or up to $60,000 per carat.
       What you do with it: Thought to be the rarest gem mineral, it can be used in               crystal healing or just make a pretty collectible.
        *FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
Painite is a very rare borate mineral. 
It was first found in Myanmar by British 
mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. 
Pain in the 1950s. When it was confirmed 
as a new mineral species, the mineral was named after him.

The chemical makeup of painite contains calcium, zirconium, 
boron, aluminium and oxygen (CaZrAl9O15(BO3)). 
The mineral also contains trace amounts of 
chromium and vanadium. Painite has an orange-red 
to brownish-red color similar to topaz due to trace 
amounts of iron. The crystals are naturally hexagonal 
in shape, and, until late 2004, only two had been cut 
into faceted gemstones.


4.Diamonds

     *Cost: A colorless, 1-carat can cost more than $65,000 per gram, or $13,000 per             carat.
        What you do with it: Buy engagement rings.
        *FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
In mineralogy, diamond (/daɪ(ə)mənd/; from the ancient 
Greek ἀδάμας – adámas "unbreakable") is a metastable 
allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged 
in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal 
structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less 
stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from 
diamond to graphite is negligible at standard conditions. 
Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative physical 
qualities, most of which originate from the strong covalent 
bonding between its atoms. In particular, diamond has the 
highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material. 
Those properties determine the major industrial application of 
diamond in cutting and polishing tools and the scientific 
applications in diamond knives and diamond anvil cells.

Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be 
contaminated by very few types of impurities, such 
as boron and nitrogen. Small amounts of defects or 
impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) 
color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown 
(lattice defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, 
pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high 
optical dispersion (ability to disperse light of different
 colors).

Most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and 
pressure at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers (87 to 118 mi) 
in the Earth's mantle. Carbon-containing minerals provide 
the carbon source, and the growth occurs over periods from 
1 billion to 3.3 billion years (25% to 75% of the age of 
the Earth). Diamonds are brought close to the Earth's 
surface through deep volcanic eruptions by a magma, which 
cools into igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites.
 Diamonds can also be produced synthetically in a HPHT method
 which approximately simulates the conditions in the Earth's 
mantle. An alternative, and completely different growth 
technique is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Several 
non-diamond materials, which include cubic zirconia and 
silicon carbide and are often called diamond simulants, 
resemble diamond in appearance and many properties. 
Special gemological techniques have been developed to 
distinguish natural, synthetic diamonds and diamond 
simulants.


 5. Tritium

      
     Cost: $30,000 per gram
       What you do with it: Tritium is used in self-luminating EXIT signs found in                  theaters, schools, and office buildings. There are more than 2 million tritium                      EXIT signs in the United States.
Tritium also known as hydrogen-3) is a radioactive isotope 
of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium 
(sometimes called a triton) contains 
one proton and two neutrons, whereas 
the nucleus of protium (by far the most 
abundant hydrogen isotope) contains one proton and 
no neutrons. Naturally occurring tritium is extremely 
rare on Earth, where trace amounts are formed by the 
interaction of the atmosphere with cosmic rays. 
The name of this isotope is formed from the Greek word 
"tritos" meaning "third".

6. Taaffeite

     *Cost: Anywhere between $2,500 to $20,000 per gram or $2,400 per carat
What you do with it: The mauve-colored gem is thought to be more than a million times scarcer than diamonds. And while it's a bit too durable to use often in jewelry, if you're lucky enough to find one, don't let your hands off it.
*FYI: A carat = 0.2 grams
Taaffeite (/ˈtɑːfaɪt/; BeMgAl4O8) is a mineral, 
named after its discoverer Richard Taaffe (1898–1967) 
who found the first sample, a cut and polished gem, 
in October 1945 in a jeweler's shop in Dublin, Ireland.
As such, it is the only gemstone to have been initially 
identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem, 
prior to Taaffe, had been misidentified as spinel. 
For many years afterwards, it was known only in a few samples, 
and is still one of the rarest gemstone minerals in the world
Since 2002, the International Mineralogical Association-approved
 name for taaffeite as a mineral is magnesiotaaffeite-2N'2S.Taaffe bought a number of precious stones from a jeweller 
in October 1945. Upon noticing inconsistencies between 
the taaffeite and spinels, Taaffe sent some examples 
to B. W. Anderson of the Laboratory of the London Chamber 
of Commerce for identification on 1 November 1945. 
When Anderson replied on 5 November 1945, he told Taaffe 
that they were unsure of whether it was a spinel or 
something new; he also offered to write it up in Gemmologist.

7. Plutonium

    Cost: Roughly $4,000 per gram
What you do with it: It makes things nuclear. There are two kinds of plutonium that can be used for either military purposes or nuclear reactors.
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element 
with symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide 
metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when 
exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. 
The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four 
oxidation states. It reacts with carbon, halogens, nitrogen,
 silicon and hydrogen. When exposed to moist air, it forms 
oxides and hydrides that expand the sample up to 70% in volume, 
which in turn flake off as a powder that can spontaneously 
ignite. It is radioactive and can accumulate in bones. 
These properties make the handling of plutonium dangerous.
A team led by Glenn T. Seaborg and Edwin McMillan at the 
University of California, Berkeley, first synthesized 
plutonium in 1940 by bombarding uranium-238 with deuterons. 
Plutonium is the heaviest primordial element by virtue of 
its most stable isotope, plutonium-244, whose half-life of 
about 80 million years is just long enough for the element 
to be found in trace quantities in nature. Plutonium is 
mostly a byproduct of nuclear reactions, where some of 
the neutrons released by the fission process convert 
uranium-238 nuclei into plutonium.


8.LSD


     Cost: The crystal form of LSD costs about $3,000 per gram
What you do with it: Popular in the 1960s, this substance is known to causehallucinations.Ingesting hallucinogenic drugs can cause users to see images, hear sounds, and feel sensations that seem real but do not exist. Their effects typically begin within 20 to 90 minutes of ingestion and can last as long as 12 hours. Experiences are often unpredictable and may vary with the amount ingested and the user’s personality, mood, expectations, and surroundings. The effects of hallucinogens like LSD can be described as drug-induced psychosis—distortion or disorganization of a person’s capacity to recognize reality, think rationally, or communicate with others. Users refer to LSD and other hallucinogenic experiences as “trips” and to acute adverse or unpleasant experiences as “bad trips.” On some trips, users experience sensations that are enjoyable and mentally stimulating and that produce a sense of heightened understanding. Bad trips, however, include terrifying thoughts and nightmarish feelings of anxiety and despair that include fears of losing control, insanity, or death. Specific short-term effects of LSD and psilocybin include:


9. Crack Cocaine

   Cost: Up to $600 per gram
What you do with it: Some say party, others say develop a problematic habit.
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can 
be smoked. It may also be termed rock, work, hard, iron, 
cavvy, base, or just crack; the Manual of Adolescent 
Substance Abuse Treatment calls it the most addictive 
form of cocaine.[1] Crack rocks offer a short but intense 
high to smokers.[2][3] Crack first saw widespread use in 
primarily impoverished inner city neighborhoods in New York, 
Los Angeles, and Miami in late 1984 and 1985; the rapid 
increase in use and availability is referred to as the crack Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3, common baking soda) is a base used 
in preparation of crack, although other weak bases may 
substitute for it. The net reaction when using sodium 
bicarbonate is

Coc-H+Cl− + NaHCO3 → Coc + H2O + CO2 + NaCl
With Ammonium bicarbonate:

Coc-H+Cl− + NH4HCO3 → Coc + NH4Cl + CO2 + H2O
With Ammonium carbonate:

2(Coc-H+Cl−) + (NH4)2CO3 → 2 Coc + 2 NH4Cl + CO2 + H2O
Crack cocaine is frequently purchased already in rock form,
although it is not uncommon for some users 
to "wash up" or "cook" powder cocaine into crack themselves. 
This process is frequently done with baking soda 
(sodium bicarbonate), water, and a spoon. Once mixed and 
heated, the bicarbonate breaks down into carbon dioxide and 
sodium carbonate, which then reacts with the hydrochloride of 
the powder cocaine, leaving cocaine as an oily free base. 
Once separated from the hydrochloride, the cocaine alkaloid 
floats to the top of the now leftover liquid. It is at this 
point that the oil is picked up rapidly, usually with a pin 
or long thin object. This pulls the oil up and spins it, 
allowing air to set and dry the oil, and allows the maker 
to roll the oil into the rock-like shape.

Crack vaporizes near temperature 90 °C (194 °F) much lower 
than the cocaine hydrochloride melting point of 190 °C (374 °F).
[1] Whereas cocaine hydrochloride cannot be smoked (burns with 
no effect),[1] crack cocaine when smoked allows for quick 
absorption into the blood stream, and reaches the brain in 
8 seconds.[1] Crack cocaine can also be injected intravenously 
with the same effect as powder cocaine. However, whereas powder 
cocaine dissolves in water, crack must be dissolved in an 
acidic solution such as lemon juice or white vinegar, 
a process that effectively reverses the original conversion 
of powder cocaine to crack.


10. Methamphetamine Drugs

     
     Cost: $120 per gram or $1,600 per ounce.
What you do with it: The highly-addictive drug can produce euphoric effects and is often popular with teenagers.
Methamphetamine contracted from N-methyl-alpha-methylphenethylamine) 
is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the 
phenethylamine and amphetamine classes that is used as a 
recreational drug and, rarely, to treat attention deficit 
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity. Methamphetamine 
exists as two enantiomers, dextrorotary and levorotary.
Dextromethamphetamine is a stronger CNS stimulant than 
levomethamphetamine; however, both are neurotoxic, 
addictive and produce the same toxicity symptoms at 
high doses. Although rarely prescribed due to the potential 
risks, methamphetamine hydrochloride is approved by the 
United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) under 
the trade name Desoxyn. Recreationally, methamphetamine 
is used to increase sexual desire, lift the mood, and 
increase energy, allowing some users to engage in sexual 
activity continuously for several days straight.












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