Written by Tadashi
Modified & Updated: 21 Sep 2024
Reviewed by Jessica Corbett
Lithium is one of the most useful elements known to man and counts as one of the most mysterious ones too. Learn more about this versatile element with these 40 Lithium facts.
- 01Scientists estimate that the world’s oceans have an estimated 230 billion tons of dissolved lithium.
- 02On average, lithium makes up 0.002% or around 45 ppm of the Earth’s crust.
- 03Scientists have refined this percentage down to 20 mg of lithium for every 1 kg of matter in the Earth’s crust.
- 04Scientists also think lithium counts as the 25th most common element on Earth.
- 05Lithium is the least dense solid element, at 0.534 g/cm³.
- 01José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva first discovered petalite in 1800.
- 02Johan August Arfwedson discovered lithium in 1817 while working on a petalite sample.
- 03Jöns Jakob Berzelius first used the name lithium for the new element in that same year.
- 04William Thomas Brande first refined scientifically-pure lithium in 1821.
- 05Metallgesellschaft AG first began commercial production of lithium in 1923.
- 06Lithium grease found its use as a machine lubricant during WWII.
- 07John Cade introduced lithium medicines for use in 1949.
- 08Both sides of the Cold War used lithium for nuclear weapons production.
- 09The lithium market declined in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War.
- 10The development of lithium-ion batteries had the lithium market recovering in the 2000s.
- 01Humans can easily cut lithium metal using even a simple butter knife.
- 02Lithium has a flammable nature, thus needing mineral oil to safely store it in.
- 03Lithium floats in both fuel oil and water.
- 04It melts at a temperature of 180.5 degrees Celsius and boils at 1,342 degrees Celsius.
- 05Lithium is one of the first three elements to ever exist along with helium and hydrogen.
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